"The Pooka MacPhellimey, a member of the devil class, sat in his hut in the middle of a firwood meditating on the nature of the numerals and segregating in his mind the odd ones from the even. He was seated at his diptych or ancient two-leaved hinged writing-table with inner sides waxed."
~ Flann O'Brien
~ Flann O'Brien
Pictures!
de Selby
Rorschach
Better Stuff
"I think that may be the saddest comment on Democratic Party failure yet, even including the advancement of the Cheney torture regime. Not because it's worse morally, but because the opportunity to educate people and obtain their support for progressive economics was practically laid at their feet and they whiffed."Digby's Hullabaloo
"...one can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, burning the crockery, setting the kitchen on fire, firebombing the restaurant and summarily executing the survivors."
~Fafblog!
My new favorite!
~Hyperbole and a Half!
Any Random Blog
Agonist
Axis of Evel Knievel
BlackBoxVoting
Black Commentator
Bouphonia
By Neddie Jingo!
Chase me ladies,
Creek Running North
I Blame the Patriarchy
If Charlie Parker...
Mahablog
Opinions You Should Have
Sisyphus Shrugged
(alas...)
Memory Hole
nonist, the
Pops' Bucket
More of the same
Older Stuff
Search Diptych
Subscribe
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
The right of the people peaceably to assemble
Here is a still taken from an illicit video smuggled from an arrest scene on August 20th, 2005:
Here is the mugshot of the perp who was being busted above:
According to the Sheriff's department, she was failing to obey the police, and resisting arrest. Here's her side of the story:
"Around 11:30pm or so i noticed a helicopter flying above the main stage of the event. At this point i am confused. The chopper began to come in closer to the stage with a search light focused on the crowd. I got nervous and still very confused and walked over to find my two friends I had arrived with earlier. Just as soon as i did that I looked over at my friend and asked "whats going on". That is when I was greeted by a man in full army attire, gas mask and all. He said to leave. I said what whats going on, at which point i was brutally attacked. Thrown to the ground and in the scuffle punched in the face by swat. That was not it either. I suppose i posed some a threat as another swat member rushed over to subdue me to the ground puting his knee in my back and arresting me. At that point I am screaming to a patron "whats going on?" He is just as confused as I am. At that point another swat member came over and kicked me in the leg. Let me tell you that I also only weigh 130 pounds. I had three grown men attack and beat me and throw me to ground for absolutely no reason at all. Not to mention being dragged to a van and violently being tossed in and taken to jail. Fined for resisting arrest and another outrageous charge. I do need to mention also that while this is all happening to me at the same time my two friends, a boy and girl were trying to reach out and stop them, at that point they were attacked and arrested as well."
Here's a picture of her friends:
Of course it's true that sometimes, SWAT teams with dogs, helicopters, and teargas are needed to maintain order in our Civil Society. Maybe there was a riot, or some trespassing going on. Perhaps there was destruction of property, or blocking of traffic. Possibly a dangerous, unlicensed gathering with seditious intent?
Nope. It was a dance party.
It was a well-advertised dance party on private property with permits, trash cans and portapotties, security officers, EMT personnel, drug and weapons searches of cars as they came in, a two million dollar insurance policy, and an attorney.
The sheriff's department's justification for the warrantless raid hangs on a claim that a "mass gathering permit" had not been obtained. It's unclear that such a permit was needed, because it applies to gatherings expected to last more than 12 hours, but the promoter says that he had the permit anyway (permit # 2005-11).
I really can't bring myself to talk about this anymore, but there's an informative writeup with extensive quotes from witnesses at Everything2.com.
This is not America. It's NOT, dammit.
UPDATE: The promoters have created a website with their "official" statement, along with some more eyewitness tales, links to media, etc. There is also a piece of night-vision video of the incident taken from the chopper.
- posted by de Selby @ 8:17 PM
