Cecily McMillan, the woman who denied medical treatment by NYPD while convulsing in Zuccotti Park late on Saturday, March 17th, gives an exclusive interview to Amy Goodman of Democracy Now.
Occupy Wall Street activist Cecily McMillan suffered a seizure when New York City police officers pulled her from the crowd and arrested her as hundreds attempted to re-occupy Zuccotti Park on Saturday, to mark sixth months since the launch of the movement. In her first interview since her arrest, McMillan says she has decided to speak out because of an outpouring of public support. "I have received so many emails, Twitter messages and phone calls. People are just horrified about what happened to me."
The interview starts about 1:45 in, but you want to watch the initial 105 seconds as well, where another protester, Jen Waller, describes what she saw that night in Zuccotti Park and elsewhere.
Some excerpts I transcribed from the interview itself.
Goodman: You're very bruised... black and blue, the shape of a hand... your arms are black and blue around both elbows...
McMillan: My ribs are really bruised... I ended a 40-something hour stay in jail and ended up with all these bruises...
I've been involved in OWS since August, since the planning stages.... I was involved in Madison... To see the strength and solidarity of people who stood up for each other...
Goodman: What happened? Did the police get you help?
McMillan: I can't really explain what happened. I know that I kept waking up places.
Goodman: You were brought to the hospital and then to jail. How long were you held?
McMillan: I don't know how long. There weren't any clocks...
Goodman: Were you able to call family or a lawyer?
McMillan: No. I asked, probably about three times an hour... They tried to dissuade the paramedics from taking me for about an hour and a half...
I went to the hospital and then the jail and then the hospital and then the jail and then another jail; I couldn't call a lawyer or, they wouldn't tell me what my charges were and I didn't know where I was.
...Up until last night, I'd been waking up every fifteen minutes or half an hour sweating and with nightmares...
Her lawyer, Meghan Maurus, from the National Lawyer's Guild (yeah, NLG!), also spoke about her incommunicado detention:
Maurus: We track every arrest... we spent much of Sunday and Monday trying to find her, trying to get a hold of her...
Goodman: This was a peaceful protest...
No, Ms. Goodman, let the truth be told. It was not a peaceful protest. Like many Occupy protests, it was a violent protest -- on the part of the police.
It is the police who bash, and beat, brutalize, shoot and deny medical treatment on a routine and systematic basis.
Let's mince no words: this is what a police state looks like. And to Ms. McMillan, what it feels like.