August 29, 2004
Satan's Laundromat Discovers...Jail
From photoblogging to prison bologna sandwiches, Mike from Satan's Laundromat spends 30 hours in lockup after being arrested Friday night! Mike rode in the bike protest:
Rather than writing us summonses for the offenses we were charged with, which were violations (on par with a traffic ticket or an open container), not even misdemeanors, the cops decided to teach us a lesson by hauling us over to a bus depot-turned-holding cell where we got to sleep in cages on diesel-sludge-covered concrete. (Many people reported chemical burns from contact with the floor.) I got to spend 16 hours there, then ride a corrections bus downtown to Central Booking for the full handcuff/search/mugshot/prints treatment, in shackles all the way, and spent another 14 hours there while the cops, who were either intentionally stalling on Bloomberg's orders or staggeringly incompetent, took 14 more hours to write us all the same desk-appearance tickets they could have given out at the scene. There were still at least 50 people in there when I got out at 2:30 a.m. [Sunday] (and spent another hour waiting on line to get my keys, phone, camera, and pen from the property clerk).Who knew that Bloomberg would be much the martial-law type as Giuliani? Anyway, Gothamist is glad you're out of the pen, Mike, but we would have helped raise money for your bail (lemonade stand outisde MSG), had the NLG not submitted the writ of habeus corpus. [Related: NYCLU on the bike protest arrests; NYPD's letter to Transportation Alternatives from early last week about "actions against future violators" (the letter does state call "Transportation Alternatives, a wonderful organization that has the same lawful desires as the Police Department" and note "I admire your board of officers and law abiding members and I look forward to having a continued warm and friendly relationship with you and I thank you for your assistance in this important matter." ]
Felix Salmon was also at the protest and writes about it; he was not arrested. callalillie has great photos (1, 2), as well as ones of the pro-choice rally yesterday. Photo from Satan's Laundromat
|
Advertisement: Gothamist Continues Below!
Post a comment (Comment Policy)
...
...
This is disgraceful. 30 hours for a Non Violent Protest?? I wish the Mayor was that tough on Real crime. I hope the Candidates running against the mayor are up to snuf as I'm sure as hell not voting for Mike Bloomberg due to this. Wow. 30 hours?!?! Is he trying to better Emulate the Radical Right Wing?
my friend got arrested too. Both of us were heading home from 2nd and 11th and somehow he managed to get arrested before he could make it 5 blocks to 7th and 1st. My friend told me the cops arrested two 16 years olds that were crossing the street and also a food delivery guy. Random.
this is the biggest bullshit, I"m looking at the NY times now and it seems like the only people getting arrested are bicyclists. ooooooooookay.
This is Nuts. The Police or rather, The Mayor, making a "Statement" and acting "Tough" on Crime and this is what they come up with?? I hope the ACLU and the NLG make the mayor's life as Entertaining as possible.
Is it me, or are they specifically targeting bicyclists?
Such fucking bullshit.
Delightful. Just delightful.
I am reminded of the words of Al Capp, who before giving a political speech in the late 60s was accosted by a hippie who said, "you're a goose-stepping fascist", or something similar. Over his shoulder, Capp replied, "And you're dirty little vermin. Heh heh heh heh."
These big showy protests are such a load of shit. They should have kept you locked up for the whole week. Heh heh heh heh.
yeah, sterling, thanks for the glimspe of your party's true feelings about our bill of rights.
What is wrong with you people?
"intentionally stalling on Bloomberg's orders"
"Bloomberg would be much the martial-law type"
"the mayor [is] making a statement"
Who said Bloomberg had anything to do with the arrests? What makes you think Bloomberg would have anything to do with processing of arrestees? And furthermore, what possible motive could Bloomberg have for detaining these people for any longer than necessary?
Nowhere in the NYTimes coverage of the Critical Mass protest or the arrests does Bloomberg's name even appear.
And while the vast majority of the ride went smoothly, let's face it: some riders were blocking sidestreets -- against the traffic lights -- to let the bulk of riders stay together, which is certainly breaking the law.
Furthermore, it's "illegal to ride in a procession on public streets without a permit," (ARCHIBOLD, NYTimes), which is what they were doing.
Could they have been written tickets on the spot for disorerly conduct? Probably. Did Bloomberg have anything to do with it? Probably not.
A police captain said the arrests were on Bloomberg's direct orders.
Sterling, What would you do for a Real Crime? Capital Punishment for stealing a turnip?
Well, Nobody @ Cares.com, What's wrong with you?? Um, do you think the Police act independently without direction from the Mayor?
"illegal to ride in a procession on public streets without a permit,"? So all the other times Critical Mass did this, they were allowed to break the law? Are you sugesting that The police independently pick and choose when they enforce the law?
Did Bloomberg have anything to do with this? The Arrest of 264 people? Yep, most likely he was informed and kept them there anyway. Why did the NLG need to get a Writ of Habeas Corpis? Compared to other protests, this reaction was extreme.
Riddle me this: If this was an "Illegal Ride" Why did they wait so long to arrest people? Methinks the higher ups got presured from City Hall when it got too embarassing. And No, I don't think this is part of a "Right Wing Conspiracy"...
Ah, I'm sorry, is the NYPD disrupting your RNC disruption?
The thing you lefties never get - the purpose of free speech and right of assembly is to convince people, NOT INTIMIDATE THEM. You have no right to accumulate into gigantic groups and disrupt the peaceful activities of another group of people. NO RIGHT! Where you get this idea that your rights to free speech and assembly trumps theirs, I have no idea.
But blocking traffic in Manhattan and other means of interfering in the operation of the RNC, etc, is not protected by the Constitution. In fact it is exactly the sort of thing the Constitution was designed to prevent.
Why you people think bullying is some noble cause, I have no idea. Everyone who is participating in any sort of disruptive event this week should be ashamed of themselves.
awwww...privileged white liberals spend 30 hours in lockup... welcome to oppression.
"The thing you lefties never get"?
Ohhhh, I get it: You're a Labeler! That Explains a lot.
So, 120K to 500K (depending on whom you ask) is Intimidating to you. Ah. So, you'r suggesting that the Right to Assembly applies only to small groups? I bet MLK jr. would have loved that idea...
Riddle me this: How is that many people blocking the RNC's right to assemble " interfering in the operation of the RNC, etc", which kick's off today?
Granted, I'm probably what you would consider a "Leftie" (What the hell does that *Mean* anyway?) but I'm pretty sure that these Peaceful Protests aren't disrupupting the RNC. Unless you consider excercising Free Speech and right to assembly "Disrupting". The RNC's Right to Free Speech doesn't Block the rest of the world.
Um, Would this be the Dreaded Protest Envy? I mean, How many Pro GOP "Protests" have taken place?
Also: Thousands of people are Protesting GW Bush. IMO: He should think about listening to them.
S.D., your circular reasoning is really . . . elegant, I guess.
One tenet of civil disobedience is a willing to accept the consequences under law. If you're breaking the law as part of the protest, why would you expect charity from the police in the form of a quick, painless summons? Be prepared to accept the maximum inconvenience permitted by law.
Also, does anybody have a hypothesis why the city/police might be conspiring against cyclists in particular? Your theory is unconvincing without a motive.
SD - Conservatives are generally reluctant to engage in civil disobedience without good reason. Since you're obsessed with the Florida recount, you might recall that GOP protests objecting to Gore trying to steal the election were quite well-attended.
Also, conservatives are more likely to have jobs, kids, time-consuming stuff like that.
And SD, you're acting as if I don't know about all the disruptive events planned - the covert "volunteers" encouraged to sign up but not show up, or to actually cause problems inside the security checkpoints. The "peaceful" protests are intended nothing like peaceful.
And it's going to bite the Democrats in the ass if the GOP's convention is disrupted, mark my words. Bush sent the Secret Service and the FBI to Boston, notified media services that their might be a far-right plan to blow up satellite vans; he did everything he could to make sure the Democrats had a smooth, safe convention. Now I'm reading about a GOP delegate being assaulted by protesters in midtown yesterday, and I just want to tell you - calm the f___ down. You're making fools of yourselves.
Politics in the US is something we TALK about. We don't burn down buildings, we don't shoot people, and we don't beat people up.
"Also, conservatives are more likely to have jobs, kids, time-consuming stuff like that"
Are they also more likely to make blanket statements.
You sound like a moron. Shut up and go to billoreilly.com where you can engage other morons like yourself.
i thought critical mass was a protest against cars / for bikes and better, more sensible transportation policies, and cars out of central park. how is this leftist? what's it got to do with the RNC?
Surveys consistently show that people who self-identify as Republicans are more likely to be married and more likely to have full-time jobs than people who self-identify as Democrats. The Pew Research Center presented a massive party-affiliation study in 1996 indicating the marriage part. And among people who are married and have kids, the GOP is significantly more popular than the Democrats. Ed Goeas, a Republican pollster, has said:
If you don't believe ME, you can go read a very optimistic report by a Democrat research project: http://www.newdem.org/newmajoritycoalition/thedoorisopen.pdfWhy you would make an argument without checking the facts I have no idea. But compounding your error by calling ME a moron is just fucking stupid.
Ok Guys, A deep Breath: Can't we all just get along?? Anonymous Name calling is hardly a respectable Dialog. I disagree with Sterling, Might get Sarcastic, but draw the line at Name Calling.
"Since you're obsessed with the Florida recount"?
Huh? Sterling, when on earth did I bring that up? Was that a GOP protest? Ah. Well, good for them. They had something to say and they said it. I don't recall Any arrests of 250+ people, but I could be wrong.
Also: How are protests Outside MSG "Disrupting" the RNC?? My point is this: Both sides have the right to say what they want. The ones that are breaking the Law in Civil Disobidience should be able to expect the Same treatment they always got in the past: a Desk Appearance Ticket
As for the "You break the Law, you do the Time" Menatlity, These were PEACFUL PROTESTORS. Did you know the NYPD arrested 3 NLG observers?? The NLG had the same agreement the ACLU has but despite being Clearly Marked, they got arrested anyway (Guess they can observe better now...) Hell, they arrested Rosario Dawson too. Not the NYPD's Finest PR hour...
"Bush sent the Secret Service and the FBI to Boston, notified media services that their might be a far-right plan to blow up satellite vans; he did everything he could to make sure the Democrats had a smooth, safe convention."?
I like to think I'm well read and Honestly, this is the First I've heard of it. I'll take your word on this one.
As for the GOP, Well, I think that they are currently a Little too Radical for my Tastes and I don't really consider them "Conservatve". IMO, This "Gay Marrige Ammendment" is the latest example of a BIG Overeaction to "Gay" Marriage.
The Conservatives I've had the pleasure of growing up with
I guess the Lt. Col. from the Marines (Ret.) That I had the pleasure of knowing was a Moderate Conservative.
IMO, the Republican *and* The Democrats are neither "Liberal" Or "Conservative". They are both reactionary.