‘Education, not occupation’
FIST leader confronts police, metal detectors
By
Mia Cruz
New York
Published Oct 1, 2006 4:27 PM
Sept. 26--After two days of protests, metal
detectors had been removed. The following is an account by the organizer of the
protests.
On the morning of Sept. 22, dozens of police officers armed with
guns and scanners monitored the doorway of Humanities Preparatory School, making
students of Humanities and two smaller schools inside of the building walk
through metal detectors. This was in response to a rumored stabbing at the
Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities.
This police occupation not
only violated the students’ personal space, but also turned students into
petty criminals. Students were suspended for personal possessions the law might
call “illegal”, but things that were no threat at all. Police
officers took away cell phones, iPods, and even artistic markers—claiming
they were for graffitti. Threats of confiscation escalated to arrests.
I
happen to go to one of the smaller schools in the building, James Baldwin
School. As I arrived that day, it looked like a police state. Since the original
fight had nothing to do with either of the smaller schools, I staged a picket
across the street to give a statement to the Board of Education that we do not
approve of these scanners.
What was planned as an hour-long picket turned
into an hour-and-a-half of explaining to officers, teachers and students why we
need our cell phones—on a Friday—and why we need our privacy. The
police were stopping students as far away as the subway station, searching them
for inappropriate reasons and saying inappropriate things. Altogether, about 40
students joined us and 23 of them signed in and spent time on the picket with
me. Students and an administrator who wanted to join us were intimidated and
some went home. Some others went into the school, but promised to spread the
word and tell others to join us on Monday’s picket!
After about an
hour-and-a-half, officers and the principal of Humanities told us that truancy
officers would be picking us up, so more students went into the school and more
left. They tried to take us into the school before the truancy officers came,
but I refused to go through the scanners. They finally called my mother and told
her to pick me up so I would not be marked truant. They then took me inside the
school without being scanned, and the principal whispered in my ear,
“I’m proud of you.”
I was held in the Dean’s
office of Humanities, until my mother picked me up. While waiting, I heard
stories of experiences that these students will never forget. A classmate of
mine was bodily searched and arrested. Objects were confiscated which
didn’t even fall into any illegal category. The police seemed to be scared
by what they didn’t recognize.
Cruz is a member of
FIST—Fight Imperialism, Stand Together
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email:
[email protected]
Subscribe
[email protected]
Support independent news
DONATE