publish.nyc.indymedia.org | Police forcibly break up Cindy Sheehan rally
Police forcibly break up Cindy Sheehan rally
The New York City Police Department forcibly broke up this afternoon's rally for Cindy Sheehan, moving in as Cindy was speaking at about 3 p.m. in Union Square.
The New York City Police Department forcibly broke up this afternoon's rally for Cindy Sheehan, moving in as Cindy was speaking at about 3 p.m. in Union Square. The rally had been underway for about an hour, and was about to conclude as Cindy spoke following several other speakers, including a few who are traveling with her on her caravan.
As Cindy was speaking, a large platoon of police massed behind from the interior of the park, then formed a circle behind her, the speakers' area and a few dozen people who were deployed in an arc behind her. Overall, about 200 people were in attendance, with the crowd steadily increasing in size as the rally progressed. As the police formed their arc just behind, the men and women immediately behind Cindy linked arms. A captain made a cutting motion at his throat, signalling he wanted no more free speech. He waited about 30 seconds, then the police moved in. They didn't dare arrest Cindy, but they immediately moved in and grabbed zool, the event's organizer and one of the main organizers of Camp Casey-NYC, pulling him away and arresting him. I do not believe anyone else was arrested; at least I didn't see any other arrests. I was nearby, and there was no hesitation on the part of the police in specifically targetting zool.
The police also took the microphone and sound system. The crowd shouted "Shame! Shame!" at the police and asked what they were so afrraid of, but made no response. There was a moderate press presence, even a bit of corporate media there, although the only television crew covering the rally was RTV from Russia.
No warning of any kind was given, and this was a permitted rally. Other than the captain making his cut motion, 30 seconds before forcibly breaking up the rally, there was no warning, verbal or in any other fashion. The police had massed perhaps three or four minutes before moving in. Until then, therally had gone smoothly, starting just after 2 p.m. as scheduled. Cindy and the rest of the caravan arrived sometime after 2:30; the rest of the rally was comprised of speakers from the caravan. Many groups were in attendence besides Camp Casey-NYC, including Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Families for Peace, the Troops Out Now Coalition, the No Police State Coalition and the Green Party, among others.
As several people confronted the police in the minutes following the arrest of zool and the stealing of the sound equipment, a woman from the caravan said they had done more than 100 events in 51 cities, and nothing like this had ever happened to them. There is no free speech in Crawford, Texas -- Camp Casey has been under attack there -- and there is no free speech in New York City. The police have attacked Camp Casey-NYC on at least two previous Mondays, have taken the camps's tents, confiscated banners and made arrests. This is merely the latest example of Bloomberg's contempt for opinions that challenge the authorities, particularly Republican Party authorities. And where are our supposed policital leaders? Nothing but silence.
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Booman Tribune ~ Boo! Cindy Sheehan vs. Mayor Bloombergby ask
Mon Sep 19th, 2005 at 07:23:43 PM EDT
Update [2005-9-19 19:52:2 by susanhu]: Sam Seder reports that Cindy Sheehan was arrested for using a wired microphone to amplify her voice. Unquote. (Huh?)
I am seething with anger. So much that I am still trembling and having trouble formulating a basic sentence.
Just back from Camp Casey, New York which is at Union Square. Took an extended lunch break, as I had seen that Cindy Sheehan would make a speech there this afternoon at 2pm. A nice little crowd, Cindy was delayed - but there were plenty of people with issues on their minds in the mean time.
Then comes Cindy and within two minutes the police interrupts. They had been in the background all along, but made their move only after Cindy started her speech. It was difficult to see all the details of what went on. Here is my summary based on what I saw and also discussed with others - including organizers - immediately after.
The police unplugged the PA-system. The organizers of CC, New York (mainly Green Party folks, as far as I could see) replugged it and made a small human chain (3-4 people) to prevent police from reaching the PA again. They were immediately detained and the crown started to boo and shout. Not so much in anger, initially - I think most of us were in total disbelief. As reality sunk in, the crowd became more vocal.
I did not see what happened to Cindy, but heard that she was escorted away from the microphone by the police, but not arrested. Many in the crowd let the police hear it, and several of them looked uncomfortable with their role. I counted some 20 uniformed police. "Police state", "Where's the First Amendment", "Burn the Constitution" etc. - I may have been screaming some myself.
Anyway, I also heard one of the organizers mention that nothing like this has happened so far during their tour (I believe she said that they had been to 21 states and 51 cities/towns without such incidents). So here comes Cindy to New York City, the liberal bastion of the country and our Republican mayor sets the police on them.
We saw it last year during the RNC and here we go again. How can any properly thinking Democrat even consider voting for this guy in November?
Sorry for the rambling quality of the post, but this story must get out there. Now! I'll try to keep my eyes open for media coverage and share here.
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Daily Kos: UPDATE: (Manhattan): Cindy Sheehan ushered away and rally organizer arrested by police. UPDATE: (Manhattan): Cindy Sheehan ushered away and rally organizer arrested by police. by Five of Diamonds Mon Sep 19th, 2005 at 14:54:06 PDT
I witnessed this with my own eyes. Here is my account. Other accounts are popping up elsewhere on the blogosphere. For example, Here Here. These other sources clarify that Cindy was rushed away and an event organizer was arrested (things I couldn't see through the crowd). I initially thought Cindy herself was arrested, that was the consensus of the confused crowd, but that is not what happened.
Commenter histopresto has a great idea: "She's supposed to appear at St. John the Divine tonight, so could somebody in the city report back from that event?"
- Five of Diamonds's diary :: ::
A small group of police began to congregate around 2:00 on the south east corner of Union Square. Cindy and her peace entourage were slightly late to the event, contending with public transportation.
Upon her arrival, applause and cheers filled the crowd awaiting her speech. A few other members of the tour movement spoke. Afterward, about 2:50, Cindy began her speech. It was friendly and empowering. She was grateful for the support and urged everyone to go to Washington DC on the 24th of September for a march on Washington.
At the conclusion of her speech, from my perspective, a few loud and impassioned boos erupted, then I saw a hand come from behind Cindy and grab her shoulder-strap on her backpack. The arm jerked her backwards, with such force as to snap her head forward, and she fell from my view.
The crowd erupted in booing and jeering. The crowd rushed the elevated park where she once stood, not to fight but to witness what was happening. People crowded thepolice, who had formed a semi-circle around what was happening to Cindy (which I could not witness from my vantage point).
"Nazis," "Gestapo," "free speech," "burn the constitution," "traitors," "you can't have her," could be heard from all sides of the angry crowd. The police stood shoulder-to-shoulder with emotionless looks on their faces. One woman from the tour, I did not see who, urged everyone to that it is a waste of energy to yell at the police, we can't stop it from happening, but what we can do is trumpet this event to the rest of the United States.
Many media cameras were there. One New York Times (cameraless) reporter was also there (at least), and she was moving around the crowd asking questions. Upon the arrest, she inserted herself into the middle of the screaming, recording it all with her mini-voice-recorder.
I'm not sure the details of the permit situation. The announcer said they sought a permit for weeks with no response from the city government.
Spread the word Kossaks! More as it unfolds.
UPDATE: Details prompted by comments There was no violence, no violent rhetoric, and the spirit of the event was positive and strong. She was only there for about 10 minutes before she spoke, and spoke for about 5 minutes. The crowd was respectful and peaceful. Cindy and the other speakers were using a microphone and speakers, which may have caused the problem with the permits. The announcer told the crowd that they had been officially warned before Cindy got there. I'm trying to find out the permit stuff right now. She was speaking at "Camp Casey NYC" in Union Square. It was a planned event, advertised in the newspaper. And from what I heard (Union Square is a noisy place), they tried to get a permit but did not get a response from city government after many messages were left. My view was not the best, so I did not see if it was a cop behind her that jerked her away. The immediate booingand rushing of the "stage" (a large part of the park raised by about 3 steps) made me believe it was the police. I could not see if she resisted or not. Sorry for the bad view...I wish I had more. Watch the wires, this will be out soon.
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village voice > news > NYPD Unplugs Cindy Sheehan by Sarah Ferguson
"We get up every morning, and every morning we see this enormous mountain in front of us," said Sheehan, speaking on behalf of the other parents and family members of fallen soldiers who have taken up the crusade to bring the troops home.
"We can't go through it, we can't go under it, so we have to go over it," she continued, just as the cops rushed the makeshift podium
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