By now you've no doubt heard (and probably written) some of the stories about the new Guantanamo that was recently set up here in Manhattan. Well, I'm here to tell you another one of those stories via Jeff, my buddy from Colorado who just spent 36 hours making his way through the rather fucked-up system that is at work here this week.
My friend Jeff is here to take photographs of everything going on this week. Tuesday found him outside the NYC Library at 42nd and 6th, where a number of events were taking place. The police were plentiful, as they are on pretty much every corner in Manhattan these days.
Two youngsters began to drape a black flag on one of the lions, and white-shirted captain stepped forward and told them to stop. They'd just taken the flag down when another captain rushed forward and waved the first one off, calling on another group of police to take them down. The two kids quickly found themselves slammed face-down on the concrete, zip-cuffed and dragged away. The crowd that had gathered began to chant for their release, and to attempt to shame the police (hahaha.) The police warn that the crowd needed to disperse, and it does, for the most part. Bear in mind that this is the front area of the NYC Library, complete with table and chairs and kids and press and regular folks... and Jeff, who was taking pictures from a distance.
Well, the police formed a riot line at the top of the library steps and swept down them, scooping up whoever was still there. This included young people with their Macy's bags, NYU students who were there studying, families, grandmothers, etc. Everyone was eventually on the sidewalk, and they were directed to exit north on 6th toward Bryant Park. Of course, Bryant Park was barricaded, which was sorta the point. When Jeff and others saw the trap and turned around to go south (or run West across the street) the police line swooped around them with that damned orange fencing. Look out for that shit.
More below the fold...
Jeff estimated that they had perhaps two-dozen of them wrapped up in a ten-foot square makeshift pen. NYPD ordered them to sit down... all captured on videotape by one of the other tourists. Later, they would each be charged with resisting arrest for following that order. (The existence of the videotape, however, convinced NYPD not to pursue it.)
Long story short (too late) everyone was zip-cuffed and thrown in the wagon. Depending on whether or not the people were moving fast enough for whatever grumpy cop was coming at you, you might even be slammed face-down on the cement, as was another photographer Jeff witnessed being manhandled... an older man who was dropped right down on his camera.
A few hours later, Jeff finds himself in an overcrowded holding pen on a pier in Lower Manhattan... one of seven he would stay in before his release 36 hours later. The pens were roughly 25' x 30', and sported razor wire around the perimeter. Each held perhaps fifty detainees. Detainees were grouped and assigned to arresting officers. What the hell does that mean? They were handing groups of arrested civilians off to officers who weren't even there so they could file the arrest reports.
Jeff estimated that more than half of these detainees were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time... shopping... studying... being a tourist. The arrests were completely indiscriminate, unless you're a delegate, in which case it cleared some human waste out of your path. If you were within a city block of the entrance to the NYC Library on Tuesday at about 5:30 pm, you were one of the estimated 1,200 people that ended up in a cage on a pier in Manhattan, waiting 12 hours before being given access to a phone, and more than 24 hours before being charged with anything. In most cases, this has amounted to being detained for 36+ hours (at least 12 hours longer that allowed by law here) and written a fucking ticket.
After two nights in the system, including one night on a floor of a warehouse where a medic told everyone not to let their exposed skin touch the floor for fear of getting the mysterious rash that has been plaguing people there (asbestos and motor oil, apparently,) Jeff finally went before a judge. Well, actually, he didn't. The judge and NLG lawyers were gone, so a cop handed him a ticket with an order to appear in court here in NYC next month and sent him on his way. When Jeff went to collect his belongings, he was told that his camera equipment was being held as evidence.
He has a date with an NLG lawyer this afternoon.
His flight back to Colorado leaves tomorrow.
I'm going down to Central Booking to take photos now... I hear there's a ruckus going on. I also hear that they've been ordered not to arraign anyone else until Bush leaves town.
If I'm not back in a few hours, send a lawyer to get me and tellk Janeane I love her. ;)