Update [2005-9-20 21:37:33 by susanhu]: Crooks & Liars now has the video of Cindy Sheehan being escorted by the NYPD! Great find by C&L.
As C&L writes: “Wherever you fall on the Cindy Sheehan meter, it’s odd to see her being escorted out for a fairly tame demonstration. I know they didn’t have the permits, but couldn’t they just have pulled the power? Living in New York for many years, I saw a lot worse offenses and demonstrations left alone.” Really.
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[From the diaries by susanhu.]
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.
