by Anonymous
Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2000 at 12:42 PM
twrl123@hotmail.com
Arrested in the Ramparts Police Station civil disobedience on August 16th. Just wanted to provide some details about what's going on in the pen.
Hi all - I was arrested for participating in the Ramparts police station civil disobedience on August 16th. Despite the little show for the television cameras, prettily described in the LA Times as a "choreographed protest", the
dance came to an abrupt end at the sheriff's. Jane Doe'd
(booked anonymously) against my will. (I provided a drivers license which was egregiously ignored. When I pointed out the mistake on the bracelet, was told to fix it at booking.
At booking, was told it had to match the bracelet). The
Ramparts women were strip-searched (I was reading "All Things Censored" after my release. It's the same strip search routine given to prisoners on Death Row). Per boyfriend, the male demonstrators were not stripsearched at all, although they were frequently threatened with pepper spray guns and occaisonally subjected to pain compliance holds. We waited for 14 hours for arraignment after being pulled out of our cells to the court tanks. Received no privileged (not overheard by guards) communication with our law collective. We were told by the other inmates that the jail general population was held in lockdown (chained to their steel beds) for most of the last week and told it was because of "the protestors". I gather this was so they would be angry with us when we were deposited in the same tanks.
The other inmates, however, were friendly and supportive, if it a bit disapproving of the idea of voluntarily entering
LAPD custody. The remaining Ramparts women and the Uwa women
were being kept together in Twin Towers 231 Pod C, when I left the jail on Friday. It should be mentioned that I was
not out of jail until almost 14 hours after being released on my own recognizance by a judge and was subjected to a 2nd stripsearch with the paperwork in hand. The remaining Ramparts women began a hunger strike, but given that all the food besides an apple and two cookies was so putrid as to be inedible, why not? Jail diet was 6oz milk, 12oz of something called "fruit punch", two cookies, chocolate chip or sugar, 1 or 2 raw or overripe apples. The provided French toast, oatmeal and bologna sandwiches induced vomiting and gag reflexes. In 50 hours of custody, I slept for approximately 90 minutes. I'm writing this for two reasons - to provide accurate info about what conditions are like inside the jail, and also to suggest, gently, that the jail solidarity
technique, which is extending the jail stay, can be rather
difficult on people, and I'm a bit concerned that idealism not win out over the health and sanity of the folks still in
jail. For me, jail solidarity wasn't the right thing to do, but some of my cellmates were quite young and seemed a bit stuck in a peer pressure mode of not wanting to let down the
rest of the group. When this is all over, that needs to be talked about when these legal trainings are done. But more importantly, they need to get out now. The bullshit charges
can be settled later, let's just get them out of that place.
I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
In struggle
Ex-prisoner # 65679XX