We love Amanda Alice RK
Five protesters were arrested during the April 9 Anti-Police Brutality demonstration in Seattle, WA. This is a statement from three who were arrested at the same time on Capitol Hill.
After more than 15 hours of being detained in precinct holding cells and county jail facilities, we were released into the early morning hours of Saturday, April 10th. We wish to extend immense thanks and gratitude to our powerful, all-volunteer jail support team who rushed to post our bail, minutes before the deadline – even putting a car up for collateral. We also thank the circles of family and friends who gathered around telephones to support us, and each other. Though we were confined for only a short period of time (compared to some of our cell-mates who were facing months or years of imprisonment), our hearts were nonetheless overjoyed to enter the cool night air. As we gazed into the dawn sky, we were greeted by a crowd of new and old friends alike.
We would not like to make any statements regarding the events of that Friday except to assert our innocence regarding our alleged crimes and to make known our injuries sustained from the police. Two of us are being charged with misdemeanor assault, while the third is facing two misdemeanors of obstruction and resisting arrest. During the arrest incident, the first of us was pinned to the sidewalk before being lifted across the street by his handcuffs. He sustained injuries to his wrists, legs and feet, with continuing numbness in his hands. The second arrestee had her face repeatedly shoved into the pavement and knelt on, receiving massive bruising and lacerations to her face and head. She was punched in the right eye, while her arms were pulled to her back and her legs kicked and stepped on. The third of us was, after being forced to lie prone on the ground, repeatedly kicked and kneed in the back and side of the head. After being dragged into the street this arrestee was let fall unconscious to the pavement after requesting to be allowed to sit down.
It is times like these when we realize how quickly the air we breathe is becoming increasingly thin, that we are being fooled into thinking our dizziness is an abnormal condition. We see clearly that a world of opportunity exists for us only insofar as we have the funds to purchase it, and that we can exercise all the freedom we desire so long as we keep our mouths tightly closed and our feet on the sidewalk. We are the crowning node of a greater social claustrophobia which clamors to be set free.
We stand tall, arms linked in solidarity with the other two protesters wrongfully arrested during the April 9th Seattle demonstration, as well as those in Olympia on the evening of April 8th, and in Portland on March 29th.
Join us in court to Monday, May 10th to show your support and to decry the randomized prosecution of people who peaceably dissent against police violence.
To those whom were present at the court on Tuesday the 13th, this was hugely important to us. It felt powerful to enter that arena of law knowing that we had our posse in tow. As the last of us three had our bail papers signed by the bailiff, we all stood as one body, exiting the courtroom in a blatant expression of our solidarity. We also know that for every person who joined us that morning, there are another ten or twenty who supported us from afar.
As our friends in Portland have said: “We believe this movement will be successful, and that the key to its success will be cooperation. We are strong together because our actions work well together, and we support one another.” We recognize the outpour of community as an obvious sign of our allegiance to the real work we must do for healthy and strong relationships. As those who were present already know, we plead “not guilty” to the charges thrown at us. But those bogus charges have been swapped around by the prosecutor, which is most likely an attempt to make them line up more consistently with the equally bogus police report, which we were able to briefly review. As of now, the misdemeanor charges against us are:
Amanda Alice and Charlie: Assault and Obstructing an Officer
Stephen: Obstructing an Officer
The prosecution seems to have taken away the Resisting charge from Stephen and applied an Obstruction charge to both Charlie and Amanda’s case. We continue to maintain our innocence in the face of these obviously malleable and arbitrary claims. The next step in the process is a pretrial which has been set for:
10am Monday, May 10, 2010
Court 1103 (11th floor) Judge Holifield
600 5th Ave. Seattle, WA
Court Info: 206.684.5600
We welcome you to the pretrial, so we can continue to meet in community and openly support each other during trying times. We request that all those who wish to attend dress and behave in a way that supports us by showing respect for the court. This will help us prove our innocence and the integrity of our characters.
Also, we are working on returning the fees that our support team paid to the bail bond firm, and we are planning many different parties and fun events in the near future. Keep an eye out, and spread the word!
-Stephen, Amanda Alice, Charlie.
PS: We are keeping in our hearts and minds the other two people arrested on Capitol Hill on April 9, that they are facing much more harsh and arbitrary allegations than we are, and that they seem to be getting trumped up charges because of their status as minors. We hope that we can be in communication with them and we offer our support and love as much as possible during this struggle.
This is a great article! Get em’