(Photo by Stephanie Keith/AP)
Just before Bishop George Packard was arrested, my husband Scott and I had pushed backward from our front position away from the fence, having watched a few protesters inside pull up the bottom of the fence and urge others to come in and join them.
Of course, I knew what it would mean; we would be crossing the line... Scott, another colleague and I had to make a similar decision on Oct. 1, 2011, to move around and ahead of the crowd onto the pedestrian walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge; at the end of the day, we eventually learned 700 people had been arrested.
Scott and I backed away, and others in the crowd pushed in front of us. Shortly afterwards, there was a sudden push from the front, and all of us were pushed backwards. All the cheering had stopped, and it was strangely silent, similar to the experience on the Brooklyn Bridge, when the riot police with their plastic cuffs arrived in formation.
I began to get concerned about staying in such a crowd, first from fear of falling and getting crushed, but also because I'd heard similar stories about police "kettling" with orange nets for big crowds, and also the pushing from the front and the back that happens when police start divide up the crowds to make their arrests. I yelled out, "what's happening." Someone said, "They're fishing." The fellow behind me said, "What does that mean?" and I muttered, it must be they're making arrests.
Scott and I decided to leave because we were closed in and if we didn't leave at that moment, we might no longer have the choice to leave this crowd. From our days covering the anti-globalization protests, a familiar sign of impending arrest would be a crowd penned in one place for a lengthy period. But unfortunately, by leaving that precarious situation, it that also meant we would miss witnessing close up any police activity (ie. brutality) which would occur.
We regrouped slightly away from the police perimeter. A lot did happen that we couldn't see or hear. Here's the bishop's account of what happened and what his wife experienced.
Bishop Packard's:
"The cop who kneed my wife in the chest three times and threw her into other demonstrators was the same Officer who walked me harmlessly to the paddy wagon."
Brook Packard's:
"I stood there in my orange LL Bean jacket, a post-middle aged mom from the suburbs, trying to film my husband. First a line of police started to push the fence on all of us and they were determined. We sat watching the 10-foot chain link fence fall and descend closer and closer to our noses. All coming down on our sitting bodies. At this point, I think I stood up. I was forced close to the fence and turned to face Officer Teague. His knee came up and hit me in the chest. I was grateful for the chained fence – the barrier softened the jolt. I looked him in the eye saying "Please don't knee me." He looked back at me and did again. Did he smile? Then he did it again. I fell backward into the crowd below me feeling the crush behind, in front, and from the fence which the NYPD was still single-mindedly trying to push onto those outside the fence. Then I felt someone pick me up and throw me onto a pile of people. I looked up and it was a police officer; using my own body as a weapon against other peaceful protesters. Who knew the NYPD could be so clever."For those who are reading these past few blog posts as part of my "Occupy Mainstream Media" series, the experience of the bishop and his wife are just small examples of what straight mainstream media news reports can't capture...the human experience.
And this is why citizen reporting does play a role in covering today's news.
Bishop Packard admits:
"The big show started with uncovering a collapsible staircase carried surreptitiously in the midst of the crowd. I was just stupidly first in line; I've learned when catching transportation in the military not to dilly-dally. Shuffle to the door, exit a chopper, humvee, or troop carrier quickly."And then he asks:
"Here's a question I have for anyone so free with advice on what conduct OWS should employ at a protest--please answer it honestly. "What would you have done if it was your loved one who had gotten beaten after you had behaved so decorously, and nonviolently, in the course of your arrest?"When I saw he was the first to climb up that ladder in his purple robe, I thought he was a hero for what he had done, making a statement with his arrest. He had changed my impression of this latest symbolic struggle. (More later.) But now I see that he, like me, had been drawn in reluctantly to his role, that day. (I had not even wanted to be there on the square that day, was even at a conference, if not for my husband's tugging at me to come along here!)
One never knows which side of history one will find oneself.
I also agree with the bishop's conclusion at the end of his blog...this movement isn't going away any time soon.
Those of us already in the movement knows deep in their heart that unspoken truth which every person on earth shares: We all want to live a life and raise our children in a world that is more loving, that nurtures the essence of our human being, that values each and every one's human potential and allows it to thrive and contribute productively to a better world.
There is no other reason for our collective existence on this planet, in this universe.
A better world is possible.
2 comments:
You don’t need to be religious to understand -and embrace- the idea that "Whatsoever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." But many of the 1%, in blind greed and endless schemes, have forgotten this. They have closed their eyes to what the word "society" should really mean, what it can mean. But due to Occupy Wall Street, we are finally talking less about CUTS and more about BLEEDING. Instead of demanding m-o-r-e budget cuts -to be borne by the middle class and poor- we are FINALLY focusing on the shameful bleeding that the poor and middle class has endured, for all too long. Instead of talking about even m-o-r-e cuts in the taxes of millionaires....we are now talking about fairness and justice - about an economy and a political system that is increasingly run for the rich, and by the rich. Instead of talking about LESS government, we are talking about a government that WORKS FOR ALL OF US, not just a favored few. Thank you OWS, for reminding us that people -ordinary working people- really DO matter, and for helping open our eyes to what’s really going on in this country. The attempt by OWS to occupy Duarte Square (the empty lot owned by Trinity Church) is much more than a plea for sanctuary. For like Zuccotti Park, it’s an attempt to carve out a protected space, a living conscience for the city, amid the repression. A refuge ...in a city where control-freaks would sweep us under the rug, and out of the way....in a city where they would pen us in, and permit us to death....in a city that tells us to “move on, move on”..... you don’t belong, you don’t count, you don’t have a right to be here...don’t assemble, don’t block the street, don’t trespass, don’t EXIST! They would deny us, deny our lives, and deny our very futures. IF WE LET THEM. But OWS responds, both in word and in DEED, and says: we’ve had ENOUGH - we BELONG, we STAND our ground, and we DO matter! This IS our land, and we want it BACK! The word OCCUPY...says it all! That’s why OWS has captured our imagination. That’s why a living breathing OCCUPIED public space is important for OWS. Like Lady Liberty’s never extinguished torch that burns in our harbor, OWS needs to have a concrete, continuing, persistent presence.. to remind us of what we’ve lost, of what we are, and what we can be ..to affirm, illuminate, and inspire. Trinity Church, with its oft-proclaimed ideals (and its huge land holdings), should look deep into its collective soul, do the right thing, and help OWS secure a space of refuge and hope. For if Christ were physically among us today, as He was 2000 years ago, He would be among the FIRST to climb those fences, and occupy Trinity’s Duarte Square. Of this I am certain...
Great comment! Thank you for sharing your passion. Remember, Time Magazine honored "The Protester" -- that person is YOU, the person who cares, and who understands... Just by talking and sharing your thoughts with others about what will make a better world for all of us, you are already part of OWS...I thank you!
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