After Nick stirred enough for us to instruct him to ask for medical attention, he was taken to a hospital, diagnosed with a fractured cheekbone, given nothing more than Motrin for the pain and brought to the Police Station where he sat chained to a bench for 5 hours with no further medical attention at all.
Additionally, police pulled other members and supporters of ours from the sidewalk and arrested them while horses spun in circles causing injury to most who couldn’t escape their paths.
All of this, I observed after arrest through the large windows of a bus we were detained in which was parked parallel to the demonstration and subsequent atrocities.
While on the bus, the officers mocked us, calling us idiots and whiners. When we arrived at the Nassau County Detention Center, the hazing did not cease.
One officer, when I brought up the prospect of speaking to a lawyer, threatened to, “put me in the back (jail),” where, “the big boys will pop your cherry!” When I asked this officer if he had just threatened an honorably discharged veteran of Afghanistan with prison rape and told him I wanted his name and rank, he refused and told me to look it up on the police report which the Nassau County Police Department has refused to provide us a copy of.
While detained, the three females who were arrested with us, including Marine Reserve Capt. Marlisa Grogan, were sexually harassed by the police who went so far as to hold Ids next to the chained women’s faces and make comments like, “you look like you came out of a Barbie magazine.”
All night, they didn’t stop. “You’re cowards, you’re idiots,” they said. The hostility was thick and unwarranted.
“This non-violent protest stuff is retarded,” they said (as if they’d prefer the alternative). “See how it got your friend’s face fucked up?”
Literally, they said this when they brought Nick in and chained him to the bench. The harassment only increased from there.
“Look at you friend’s face,” said one officer. “You’re responsible for that.” As if I gave to order to charge horses onto a crowded sidewalk.
I saw this same officer in the Colony diner where we went to eat after we were charged with disorderly conduct and released. He was with the one who threatened me with prison rape, and when I approached them respectfully and again asked for their names, he leapt to his feet, threw his finger in my face and began threatening to “beat my ass” if I didn’t drop it.
Afterward, one of his friends, also a police officer, approached me, accused me of being drunk and said I was about to get arrested again. I retorted that his accusations were false (considering I’d only gotten out of jail 30 minutes prior) and that I was only interested in learning the names of the officers who arrested and harassed us as I have the legal right to do. He responded with only his name, which he said was Peter Sikinger, but refused to reveal the names of his partners, though to his credit, he did back down from threatening me with arrest.
I am outraged at the egregious conduct of the Nassau Country Police Department and the failure of Det. Calvert to make good on his promise to “make things go as smoothly as possible.”
But mostly, I must put this on the candidates.
Barack Obama and John McCain, you have failed to properly address the occupation of Iraq and veteran and servicemember issues in this campaign. You failed to hear from us, the veterans and servicemembers, at the conventions. Your overwhelming concern for “Joe the Plumber” at the final debate while veterans are killing themselves at a rate of 18 per month is inhumane to say the least.
Additionally, police pulled other members and supporters of ours from the sidewalk and arrested them while horses spun in circles causing injury to most who couldn’t escape their paths.
All of this, I observed after arrest through the large windows of a bus we were detained in which was parked parallel to the demonstration and subsequent atrocities.
While on the bus, the officers mocked us, calling us idiots and whiners. When we arrived at the Nassau County Detention Center, the hazing did not cease.
One officer, when I brought up the prospect of speaking to a lawyer, threatened to, “put me in the back (jail),” where, “the big boys will pop your cherry!” When I asked this officer if he had just threatened an honorably discharged veteran of Afghanistan with prison rape and told him I wanted his name and rank, he refused and told me to look it up on the police report which the Nassau County Police Department has refused to provide us a copy of.
While detained, the three females who were arrested with us, including Marine Reserve Capt. Marlisa Grogan, were sexually harassed by the police who went so far as to hold Ids next to the chained women’s faces and make comments like, “you look like you came out of a Barbie magazine.”
All night, they didn’t stop. “You’re cowards, you’re idiots,” they said. The hostility was thick and unwarranted.
“This non-violent protest stuff is retarded,” they said (as if they’d prefer the alternative). “See how it got your friend’s face fucked up?”
Literally, they said this when they brought Nick in and chained him to the bench. The harassment only increased from there.
“Look at you friend’s face,” said one officer. “You’re responsible for that.” As if I gave to order to charge horses onto a crowded sidewalk.
I saw this same officer in the Colony diner where we went to eat after we were charged with disorderly conduct and released. He was with the one who threatened me with prison rape, and when I approached them respectfully and again asked for their names, he leapt to his feet, threw his finger in my face and began threatening to “beat my ass” if I didn’t drop it.
Afterward, one of his friends, also a police officer, approached me, accused me of being drunk and said I was about to get arrested again. I retorted that his accusations were false (considering I’d only gotten out of jail 30 minutes prior) and that I was only interested in learning the names of the officers who arrested and harassed us as I have the legal right to do. He responded with only his name, which he said was Peter Sikinger, but refused to reveal the names of his partners, though to his credit, he did back down from threatening me with arrest.
I am outraged at the egregious conduct of the Nassau Country Police Department and the failure of Det. Calvert to make good on his promise to “make things go as smoothly as possible.”
But mostly, I must put this on the candidates.
Barack Obama and John McCain, you have failed to properly address the occupation of Iraq and veteran and servicemember issues in this campaign. You failed to hear from us, the veterans and servicemembers, at the conventions. Your overwhelming concern for “Joe the Plumber” at the final debate while veterans are killing themselves at a rate of 18 per month is inhumane to say the least.
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