The protests against the beginning of the war took place earlier today. I along with 4 other friends attended the one in front of the federal building in Westwood, Ca.
Before we showed up at the scheduled time (5 PM) about 30 protestors we're dragged from a sit-in they did in the intersection near the protest site. I heard different accounts that it was peaceful to a couple of people got minorly beaten by arresting officers. They faced fines later that evening.
It was pretty small scale compared to past ones I've been to but had a big handful of people attending. My friends and I were dressed pretty much in black bloc associated clothing, as I always protest in. We had a 10 foot banner manned by two people and me on the snare drum to rally the masses.
Throughout the time, we noticed a group of about 10-12 riot geared officers monitoring our group specifically. This was certain when we crossed the street and they followed and lined up behind us all as if we were attempting to do something illegal. We kept an eye on them for the most part with an escape route in the case that they try to rush us.
When we decided to leave, our path out is about a quarter mile of sidewalk not inhabited by any protestors. We walked to the end of the rally and checked to see if the police officers were following us. They stayed in their position so we figured that they just want us out of there.
About 1/4 of the ways into the walk, we noticed the group assigned to us was following us out. We proceeding to walk faster wondering if we should make a move. Since we've done nothing wrong that day, we under-estimated their intent.
When we got to the entrance to the 405 freeway, they flashed their light at us and yelled "Hey there, stop!"
About 4 squad cars swoop up and take up two lanes so there is a total of about 25 riot gear cops shouting at us. They we yelling for us to get against the chain link fence. We were ordered to drop all of our outer possessions (i.e. backpacks, my snare drum, the drum sticks, our banned, etc.). They slammed us all against the fence and hand cuffed us all right away. They excessively searched us in my opinion (they checked my pockets at least 3 times each on different occassions). One of my friends which was female resisted due to them twisting her arm too far up her back and tried to get them to ease up but that just resulted in two officers grappling and slamming her even more against the fence.
The search resulted in them finding a sling-shot on my friend. They tricked him into an involuntary and untrue confession which most definately will be used against him in court. He was standing next to me so this is what I picked up from their conversation when I wasn't being manhandled by the officer behind me.
Officer: Why do you have a sling-shot in your bag?
Friend: It's for protection.
Officer: So you're telling me you're going to use this against me?
Friend: No, it's just for protection.
Officer: You just told me that you're going to use this against me!
That to my knowledge is what I remember of their conversation. The rest was concealed by my officer pushing me and asking me inane questions.
After the ordeal, they ordered us to all turn around as one of the many officers panned over each of us slowly with a video camera, documenting each one of us for their little "suspicious character" logs then repeatedly shined the light in our eyes. They put our sling-shot comrade in the car and released all from their custody. They then informed us that "they had suspicion that we had illegal materials on us" which is complete bullshit. It was solely because we were dressed in black and had our faces concealed. They hassled people before us doing the same eariler that day. They got off because hundreds of the protestors we angerly shouting to let them go. Since we were out of reach, they got to hassle us as good and long as they pleased.
His bail for tonight is set at $25,000 and will be arraigned tomorrow for the felony charge of "possession of a deadly weapon" and any other goodies they can muster up.
This is not just a precautionary act taken by the police. This is them making it very clear that 'Black Bloc' and 'Black Bloc' associated people are not welcomed in their presence and they will be harrassed if seen. This is the police-state I've been whining about for the past months following the Patriot Act. This is what tomorrow is going to be like. They're taking over our protests. They're taking over our right to assemble. Does this need to happen to you before you realize this just isn't an Orwell book or the rants of a smelly hippie? This is reality, our reality. This is the terrorism.
If anyone has any legal advice or can offer any assistance for our fallen comrade, it would be greatly appreciated. As of now, I see he has no chance at a winnable case. He is yet another political prisoner being taken off the list of politically threatening people to the state. If you have any info or would like to contribute any knowledge or advice, please contact me via e-mail at
soup_ignorant@hotmail.com. Thanks. Never submit, stand the ground which is rightfully yours.