ArrestingArresting ProtestProtest A special report of the New York Civil Liberties Union on New York City’s Protest Policies at the February 15, 2003 Antiwar Demonstration in New York City

NEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

1 Introduction

3 The Events Leading Up to February 15

7 February 15: A Chronological Overview

11 Eyewitness Accounts of Police Actions on February 15

23 Protest Marches and Police Actions Around the World on February 15

32 NYCLU Recommendations

34 Conclusion Arresting Protest A special report of the New York Civil Liberties Union on New York City’s Protest Policies at the February 15, 2003 Antiwar Demonstration in New York City

Written by Christopher Dunn, Arthur Eisenberg, Donna Lieberman, Alan Silver, Alex Vitale

Graphic design by Li Wah Lai

Published by the New York Civil Liberties Union 125 Broad Street, New York, NY 212-344-3005 www.nyclu.org April, 2003

© NYCLU

A full compilation of legal briefs, public testimony and this report is available on line at www/nyclu.org. For additional copies see order form at back.

Donna Lieberman, Executive Director; David Addams, Deputy Director; Arthur Eisenberg, Legal Director; Christoper Dunn, Associate Legal Director; Rebekah Diller, Director, Reproductive Rights Project; Robert Perry, Legislative Counsel; Lloyd Martinez, Director of Development NEW YORK AFFILIATE OF THE ACLU Claudia Angelos, President; Anthony Feldmesser, Vice President; Miriam Hyman, Secretary; Peter Gollon, Treasurer

Front cover: top photo by Diane Green Lent; bottom photo by Andrew Stern; back cover photo by Dustin Ross. In this country, when there is strong disagreement with the actions of the government . . . the people protest. Today, our president and his advisors seem intent upon going to war. This has stirred strong feelings – feelings of patriotism as well as deep opposition.

There is a long, proud American tradition of “talking with our feet.” A city that claims to be a cultural and intellectual capital of the world cannot be a place where protest marches are a thing of the past.

But the City decided that we could not march and the Courts said that was okay. And both decisions have diminished the Constitution.

New York City is at a crossroads. Will we sign onto the other war – the war on civil liberties? Will we passively accept the policies of the Bush Administration that invoke the politics of fear to stifle dissent? Or will we fight . . . for democracy at home?

We fervently hope that the New York City Council will take the lead in scrutinizing the policies that stopped the people's march on February 15th and in returning New York City to its proper place as a protector and center of democratic ideals. A place where people can – and do – talk with their feet.

Testimony of Donna Lieberman Executive Director, New York Civil Liberties Union New York City Council, Committee on Government Operations February 25, 2003 INTRODUCTION

n February 15, 2003, in cities around the world, millions of people took to the streets for peaceful protest against the impending war with Iraq. The sole exception to this Oworld-wide day of peaceful protest marches was New York City, where the New York City Police Department not only refused to allow protesters to march past the United Nations as they had requested but also refused to allow them to march anywhere else in the City. This extraordinary decision came at a time when the NYPD had adopted a policy of denying per- mits for all protest marches. When the federal courts rejected a legal challenge to the NYPD’s denial of a parade permit for February 15, protesters were left to participate in a stationary rally on the East Side of Manhattan.

Though the New York City rally drew hundreds of thousands of protesters, it was deeply marred by police actions that severely restricted access to the rally site. As a result, tens of thousands of protesters never made it to the event, and hundreds of protesters were arrested just trying to get there. In addition, the NYPD’s use of “pens” — metal barricades used to form closed areas into which protesters are confined — at the rally site significantly limited the ability of protesters to move around, to form contingents, and to enjoy the event.

In this report, the New York Civil Liberties Union, which represented the coalition that or- ganized the New York City antiwar rally, provides the following:

● A recounting of the events leading up to the February 15 rally, including negotiations with the City about a pro- posed march and the NYCLU litiga- tion challenging the City’s refusal to allow a march;

● A chronological overview of the ac- tions of the NYPD on February 15;

● A compendium of over 300 witness accounts received by the NYCLU about police actions on February 15; and

● An examination of protest activity in other cities and countries and a compar- ison of the practices of law-enforcement agencies in those cities and countries. Photo by Devin Asch

● The report concludes with a set of recommendations in five areas: (1) the granting of march permits; (2) policies and practices affecting public access to demonstrations; (3) the use of force to clear demonstrators from streets and sidewalks; (4) the use of “pens” at demonstra- tions; and (5) the processing of persons arrested at demonstrations. The NYCLU believes that implementation of these recommendations will help avoid a repeat of the serious missteps that T

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occurred in connection with the February 15 antiwar event. E T O R P

G N I T S E R R A NYCLU /

1

The Events Leading to February 15

Efforts to Secure a March Permit Department to propose an alternative, which is the standard practice. The February 15 anti-war march planned for New York City was organized by a coali- The following day the Legal Bureau in- tion of anti-war groups operating under an formed the NYCLU that the Department umbrella organization named United for would not offer any alternative route and that Peace and Justice (UFPJ). In mid-January, no march would be allowed on any route. UFPJ asked the New York Civil Liberties The NYCLU promptly informed a senior Union to represent it in its efforts to secure member of the City Law Department that it the necessary permits. intended to file suit on behalf of UFPJ. Several hours later the Law Department called the On Wednesday, January 22, 2003, the NYCLU to inform it that the City wanted to NYCLU called the NYPD’s Legal Bureau and try to resolve the matter and scheduled a meet- informed it that UFPJ wanted to meet with ing for the following day. The NYCLU thus Department officials to discuss a parade per- agreed not to file suit immediately. mit for the march planned for Saturday, February 15. In that initial contact, the NY- On Thursday, January 30, the NYCLU CLU informed the Legal Bureau that UFPJ and UFPJ met with senior members of the wished to assemble at Dag Hammarskold Law Department and of the NYPD Legal Plaza near the United Nations; march down Bureau, along with NYPD Chief Michael First Avenue to 42nd Street, west on 42nd Esposito, who commands all police opera- Street to Fifth Avenue, and up Fifth Avenue tions in Manhattan south of 59th Street. At to 59th Street; and then hold a rally near the that meeting Chief Esposito presented a pro- southern part of Central Park. The NYCLU posed march route that would proceed from also told the NYPD that UFPJ expected Third Avenue and 14th Street and north to 50,000 to 100,000 people to attend, and per- 47th Street and then east to First Avenue, haps more. where a rally would take place at Dag Hammarskold Plaza. UFPJ representatives Recognizing that the anticipated size of were not satisfied with this proposal for sev- the event would require substantial planning eral reasons, and the group then discussed by the NYPD, the NYCLU followed up with various other possibilities for a march and the NYPD on Thursday, January 23; Friday, rally. Because Chief Esposito did not have fi- January 24, and Monday, January 27, each nal authority to approve a march, he stated time asking for a meeting as soon as possi- he would have to confer with Department ble. Finally, on Tuesday, January 28, the officials, and the parties agreed to meet on NYCLU wrote to the head of the Legal Monday, February 3. Bureau urging an immediate meeting. T S

The next day a senior member of the Law E T

In the afternoon of January 28, the Legal Department asked the NYCLU to move the O R P

Bureau informed the NYCLU that the NYPD meeting scheduled for February 3 to February G N I

would not allow the march to take place on 4. The reason given for the change was that T S E

the route proposed by UFPJ because of con- Mayor Bloomberg needed to discuss the mat- R R cerns about congestion. The NYCLU imme- ter with NYPD Commissioner Raymond A diately informed the NYPD that UFPJ was Kelly and would not be able to do so until open to alternative routes and asked the February 3. “The Mayor wants this to hap- NYCLU /

3 The Events Leading Up to February 15

pen, and you’re going to like our offer,” said 2002 of denying parade permits for all protest the senior member of the Law Department. marches in midtown Manhattan. On the basis of this, the NYCLU agreed to postpone the February 3 meeting to Tuesday, The following morning both sides filed February 4 at 3:00 PM. papers, and that afternoon the court held a hearing that lasted several hours on UFPJ’s At the February 4 meeting, the City in- challenge to the denial of their request for a formed UFPJ that no march would be per- parade permit. The courtroom was packed mitted to take place anywhere in the City in with spectators and members of the press. In conjunction with the February 15 anti-war addition, two lawyers representing the event. Rather, the City informed UFPJ that it Department of Justice attended the hearing. would allow only a stationary rally to take place in Dag Hammarskold Plaza and on UFPJ submitted various documents about First Avenue north of 49th Street. its planned event and about many other large marches that the City had been allowing to Litigation Over the Permit Denial take place. Leslie Cagan testified about the group’s plans for the event; about the impor- The morning after being informed that no tance of being able to march, particularly march could take place, the NYCLU filed a past the United Nations; and about prior federal lawsuit on behalf of United for Peace large marches that had proceeded along First and Justice. The case was assigned to Avenue in front of the United Nations in District Court Judge Barbara S. Jones, and 1994, 1988, and 1982 and had done so the NYCLU immediately wrote to Judge without incident. She also testified why a Jones asking to appear that day to schedule stationary rally on First Avenue would be no court proceedings. Judge Jones granted that substitute for a march. request, and the parties were in court for a conference at 3:00 PM on February 5. At For the City, Chief Michael Esposito testi- that conference, Judge Jones scheduled a fied that the NYPD opposed allowing a hearing for the afternoon of Friday, February march of 100,000 people or more because it 7; directed the parties to conduct discovery; had been given insufficient information by and directed the parties to file affidavits and UFPJ about the specific numbers of people briefs by Friday morning. that would be attending, because the Department was concerned that a march On Thursday, February 6, the parties ex- would be unruly, and because any march changed documents, the plaintiff questioned past the United Nations would present unac- Chief Esposito, and the City questioned Leslie ceptable security concerns. As for other Cagan, who was the UFPJ coordinator of the huge parades (such as the St. Patrick’s Day February 15 event. During his deposition, Parade) that the City was allowing to take Chief Esposito revealed that the Department place regularly, Chief Esposito testified that had adopted an informal policy in the fall of they were different because they were planned far in advance, involved known groups of participants, and did not involve any rally at the end of the parade. Finally, Chief Esposito testified that, though the Department had no information to suggest that the UFPJ march would present any threat of terrorism, general concerns about T S

E terrorism played a substantial role in the T

O City’s decision to ban any march. R P

G N I

T Beyond the particulars of the UFPJ event, S E

R Chief Esposito denied that the NYPD had R

A adopted a policy of denying permits for all protest marches. On cross-examination, however, he admitted that since the fall of NYCLU / Photo by Adam Michaels 4 The Events Leading Up to February 15

conference room. She then pressed the City about its position that no march could take place anywhere. Though Leslie Cagan reit- erated the willingness of UFPJ to consider alternative routes, the City’s lawyers repeat- ed that the NYPD would not allow any march anywhere. Judge Jones informed the parties that she intended to work through the weekend and would be issuing a deci- sion as soon as possible.

On Saturday, February 8, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) submit- ted a brief to Judge Jones. In that brief the federal government argued that it had a sub- stantial interest in the case because of its Photo by Getty Images treaty obligations to the United Nations. DOJ then urged the court to give substantial 2002 the Department had turned down every weight to security concerns arising out of single application for a parade permit for a the attacks of September 11. Nonetheless, protest march. the Justice Department took no position op- posing a march, even a march past the At the conclusion of the testimony, Judge United Nations. Jones heard argument from the NYCLU and the City. The NYCLU emphasized the First Around noon on Monday, February 10 Amendment importance of protest marches Judge Jones issued a decision upholding the and argued that the fact that the City was al- City’s decision to block the march. Relying lowing similarly sized cultural parades to heavily on the testimony of Chief Esposito, take place regularly undermined entirely any she found that a march past the United argument that the antiwar march could not Nations posed unacceptable security risks take place because of its large size. The NY- and found that a complete ban on any other CLU also pointed to prior protest marches march was reasonable. that were far larger and that took place with- out significant problems. Finally, the NY- Within hours of Judge Jones’ decision, the CLU argued that a permit could not be NYCLU filed an emergency appeal with the denied on the basis that the event had not United States Court of Appeals. The court been planned months in advance because scheduled argument for Wednesday, February protest marches by their very nature involved 12 at 10:00 a.m. people gathering on relatively short notice to respond to events of the moment. The NYCLU, UFPJ, and the City all ap- peared on Wednesday morning for argument. In response, the City’s lawyers emphasized As in the District Court, the courtroom was security concerns that they contended made it packed with spectators and press. In a high- too risky to allow a march to take place. The ly unusual development, the three judges did City pointed to the fact that on the very day of not appear until nearly 11:00 and then ex- the hearing the federal government had raised plained that they had been reviewing the the nation’s alert status to level “orange” out matter. They then informed the lawyers that T S

of a concern for potential terrorist attacks, and instead of hearing argument they would ask E T argued that the lack of information available questions. That questioning continued for O R P

to the NYPD distinguished this march from nearly an hour, at the conclusion of which G N I

the cultural parades and justified denial of a the three judges left the bench and said they T S E

permit in this case. would return with a decision. R R A After hearing arguments, Judge Jones After about fifteen minutes, the panel re- asked the parties to meet with her in her turned to the courtroom and the presiding NYCLU /

5 The Events Leading Up to February 15

judge read a decision from the bench. In from one block to the next or to move from that decision, the Court of Appeals declined one pen to the next. UFPJ and the NYCLU to overturn the decision by Judge Jones. The objected to the planned use of pens and to court reasoned that her decision was based the proposed entry plan, but Chief Esposito on the particular facts of this event and that refused to change the plan. they were not going to second-guess her con- clusion about the reasonableness of the City’s UFPJ also asked to designate certain position. The court also relied upon general blocks for particular contingents (such as security concerns advanced by the City and student groups or labor groups). The NYPD adopted by Judge Jones. would not agree to this and instead insisted that any contingents would have to form Planning for the Rally away from the rally site and then walk to the site as a group if they wished to be at First Within hours of the decision from the Avenue as a group. Under this plan, those Court of Appeals on Wednesday, February wishing to join a contingent at the rally 12, UFPJ and the NYCLU met with NYPD would not be able to do so. officials to plan what was to be a stationary rally. At the meeting, which took place at The parties also discussed the issue of Chief Esposito’s office, UFPJ asked that the groups of people marching to the rally site. rally be switched from First Avenue to Third NYPD officials stated that they knew that Avenue because Third Avenue was flat while many groups would be doing this and that First Avenue was hilly and thus not con- they intended to facilitate it so long as people ducive to a rally that might stretch twenty or remained on the sidewalk. However, they also more blocks. Though UFPJ had never re- took the position that they would seek to dis- quested First Avenue for a rally site, Chief perse any large group of protesters who as- Esposito refused to move the rally because, sembled on the sidewalk even before they were he said, too much planning had been done to ready to march if they believed such was nec- move the rally site. essary to keep the sidewalk clear for others.

UFPJ then asked that the stage location be The NYPD then asked for a meeting with moved from 49th Street, which was in a dip the marshals that UFPJ was organizing for and thus could not be seen for more than a the rally, and it was agreed that such a meet- couple of blocks, to 51st Street, where First ing would take place on Saturday morning at Avenue crests. Chief Esposito agreed to this. 10:00 a.m. at 51st Street and First Avenue. UFPJ also informed Chief Esposito that it The NYPD informed UFPJ that no portable had no interest in using Dag Hammarskold toilets would be allowed at the site (except Plaza, since having a portion of the crowd behind the stage) for security reasons. After there would just break up the event. other details were worked out, UFPJ and the NYCLU left the meeting. On the subject of access, Chief Esposito informed UFPJ that the Department would Over the next two days, UFPJ worked use metal barricades to create pens on First feverishly to prepare for the event. Several Avenue in which protesters would be placed. problems arose, including problems securing Those attending the event would be allowed permits for the use of amplified sound and to enter through cross streets north of 52nd for the use of a stage and backstage tents, Street and then to flow down First Avenue but they were resolved by Friday evening. ❖ towards the stage. As the pens on blocks of T S

E First Avenue became full, the corresponding T

O cross street would be closed and people R P

G would have to enter from the next northern N I

T cross street, with people being funneled up S E

R Third Avenue and up Second Avenue to the R

A next open cross street. And as part of the pen plan, protesters would not be allowed to use the sidewalks along First Avenue to move NYCLU /

6 and beyond.Ataround1:00PMLeslie large numbersofpeopleupto60thStreet noon andwithinanhourFirstAvenue had ing upFirstAvenue. Theeventstartedat and soundweresetuppeoplebeganfill- Finally, itwasextremelycold. hospital atFirstAvenue and67thStreet. about theplacementofloudspeakersneara tire set-upoftheevent.Andproblemsarose hour andone-halflate,whichdelayedtheen- make ittotheevent.Thestagearrivedan on Saturdaymorningthatshecouldnot in theweekspriortoevent,wassosick Cagan, whohadbeenbattlingaseverecold start auspiciously. UFPJcoordinatorLeslie A ChronologicalOverview February 15: Nonetheless, latethatmorningthestage The February15anti-wareventdidnot Photo byGarthLiebhaber Photo byNathanBlaney crowds atvarious pointsonSecondAvenue use ofhorsesmovingsouthto disperse NYCLU receivedanumberof reportsofthe moned aunitofofficersonhorseback. The further uptown. of 53rdand52ndStreetsinintersections ending upinthestreetnearintersections situation arosewithlargenumbersofpeople NYPD hadclosedoffaccesstoit),asimilar people wereonSecondAvenue (becausethe no spaceonthesidewalks.Thoughfarfewer were forcedintoThirdAvenue astherewas short timethecrowdsswelledimmenselyand and westawayfromthesite.Within avery sending demonstratorsuptown,downtown, information aboutwhichstreetswereopen, First Avenue. Policeofficersgaveconflicting riers preventingthemfromwalkingtowards 52nd and53rdStreet,theyencounteredbar- points) reachedThirdAvenue andaround Penn Station,UnionSquare,andmanyother downtown (viaGrandCentralTerminal, tens ofthousandspeoplecomingfrom streets upintothe60’s. Department alsohadshutoffallthecross even fartherfromthesite.ThePolice walk upThirdAvenue andotheravenues crowds ofpeopleto forcing burgeoning Avenue toprotesters, largely shutoffSecond event. TheNYPD gain accesstothe er, aspeopletriedto were emerging,howev- area shortlythereafter. she arrivedatthestage was onherway, and Cagan calledtosayshe In responsetothis,theDepartment sum- A chaoticsituationsoondeveloped.As Serious problems Photo byDustinRoss

7 NYCLU / ARRESTING PROTEST February 15: A Chronological Overview

Photos by Peter Holderness

between 57th Street and 53rd Street. At Second Avenue. Officers manning the barri- 53rd Street, with large numbers of people in cade at Third Avenue and 53rd Street opened the street and cars trying to drive through the barricade and the officers on horseback the area, the mounted officers started to forced their way into the crowd packed into push the horses into the crowd to move peo- the intersection. They then split into two ple out of the street. groups, with one facing the crowd above 53rd Street and the second facing south. A large Meanwhile, on Third Avenue demonstra- number of uniformed officers on foot then tors had filled the street for many blocks in filled the intersection between the two lines of the vicinity of 52nd and 53rd Streets, and the mounted officers. Without any reported an- area became so crowded that people no nouncements or warnings to those packed into longer could move in any direction. the area, the mounted officers then started to Frustrated demonstrators pressed against the drive the horses into the crowd in an effort to barricades that the police had erected to force people out of the street. At the same block access to 53rd Street. According to time, officers on foot were using their batons several accounts, police officers responded by to force people back. For most people, there using pepper spray on those demonstrators simply was no place to go, given the fact that to drive them back from the barricade. the crowd filled both the street and all the sur- rounding sidewalks. Shortly thereafter, the unit of officers on horseback came across 53rd Street from This tactic eventually managed to force everyone out of the street and onto the side- walk. Police officers then moved to force demonstrators off the sidewalk on the east side of Third Avenue, which was completely packed with people forced out of the street. T S

E After police officers told those on the south- T

O eastern corner of Third Avenue and 53rd R P

G Street that they would have to move south N I

T (which was away from the demonstration en- S E

R try point), videotape reviewed by the NY- R

A CLU shows that demonstrators started chanting and complaining. Shortly thereafter police officers are seen going into the crowd NYCLU / Photo by R. Gardiner 8 February 15: A Chronological Overview

Videotape shows that a line of police officers then started forcing themselves forward with batons outstretched, with the mounted offi- cers coming behind the advancing line of offi- cers. Because of the intense overcrowding and the speed with which the police officers moved, many people were knocked down, and in some instances were trampled by the police horses. Many people who fell were ar- rested. In certain locations, people who had been pushed out of the street on to the side- walk and who then stopped retreating were pepper sprayed. The police horses went onto the sidewalk of the southwest corner of Third Photo by Peter Holderness Avenue and 51st on the sidewalk and making arrests, in the Street in an apparent course of which some demonstrators were effort to force the beaten by police. crowd west on 51st Street. Eventually, On the northeast corner of Third Avenue much of the crowd and 53rd Street, mounted officers then started moved west. to drive the horses on to the sidewalk and rode into the crowd, knocking people to the Videotape record- ground. Videotape of the incident captures ed a third serious en- mounted officers telling people to “go home.” counter with police Photo by Peter Holderness horses at a separate, The next serious problem arose at the in- but unidentifiable, tersection of Third Avenue and 51st Street, location. Mounted officers started driving where police officers had formed a line across the horses into a number of people sitting on Third Avenue to prevent any further move- the street. The officers then pulled back, at ment north (which was the way to get to the which point they turned the horses around demonstration). Large numbers of people and start backing them into those sitting on were in the intersection and were unable to the street, striking people. Some people move either north or east. After a period of started to get up, only to be knocked down time, the mounted officers arrived from 53rd by the horses. At some point, all those in the Street, proceeding down Third Avenue to 51st street retreated to the sidewalk. A separate Street. A police officer with a bullhorn made videotape of this incident then depicts announcements for people to move west on mounted officers charging their horses on to 51st Street, but those announcements could the sidewalk and trampling people. only be heard by those close to the officer. Throughout the afternoon, large numbers of people were attempting to move to the rally site, with crowds surging into the street at various points and barricades being erect- ed and removed without any apparent plan or pattern. T S

Meanwhile, on First Avenue people had E T

been streaming downtown from the open O R P

cross streets to fill up the pens that lined the G N I

avenue. The police were enforcing rigid re- T S E

strictions on the movement of demonstrators R R

on First Avenue. Some pens near the stage A were not full, meaning that people were kept unnecessarily far from the event. It was dif- Photo by Andrew Stern NYCLU / 9 February 15: A Chronological Overviewhead

arrests took place at Second Avenue and 52nd Street when senior-level police officials directed that a group on the sidewalk be pushed northward.

By the end of the day, over 350 people were reported as being arrested, virtually all of whom were charged with minor offenses. The NYCLU first started receiving reports of problems with arrests in the middle of the af- ternoon. The first problem reported to the NYCLU was that lawyers were being denied access to demonstrators who had been ar- rested and taken to the 17th Precinct. The Photo by Nathan Blaney NYCLU then spoke with a Community Affairs detective from the precinct who was at the stage area, and he called the precinct desk officer and directed that lawyers be giv- en access to any arrestees. By that time, however, only three arrested demonstrators remained in the precinct.

By early evening, the NYCLU was receiv- ing reports that substantial numbers of ar- rested demonstrators who had been driven around the City for several hours and then eventually transported to Police Headquarters. Those arrested had been held in handcuffs for hours in dark, unheated Photo by Lina Palotta vans without food or water and without ac- cess to bathroom facilities or medical treat- ficult if not impossible for people to move ment. One group of arrestees was forced to from one pen to another to join friends or stand outside in the freezing cold for an hour family members. Finally, access to sidewalks or more, handcuffed and chained together. (to go to a store or move from one place to At approximately 9:30 PM the NYCLU another) was severely restricted, with some spoke with the commanding officer of the blocks closed off entirely. booking unit at Police Headquarters, who in- formed that the NYCLU that many demon- Once a person was inside a pen on First strators still had not been processed; the Avenue, it was extremely difficult to get out, officer was further unable to make any com- as there were no more than four small open- mitment as to when they might be processed. ings for an entire block. Moreover, once they left a pen demonstrators were largely re- While being held at One Police Plaza, quired to leave the area. Some sidewalks protesters were not advised of their right to along First Avenue were open to pedestrian counsel. Requests by protesters to consult traffic but many were not. As a general mat- with lawyers were ignored or met with ter, movement was extremely constricted. threats of prolonged detention. Protesters T S

E were interrogated about their political affili- T

O The event ended around 4:30 PM. People ations and prior political and even religious R P

G had been leaving for some time, but at that activity. As this all was taking place, N I

T point the flow of people exiting the area in- lawyers outside the building seeking access S E

R creased significantly. For the most part, this to their clients were prevented from entering R

A took place without problems, though there police headquarters. ❖ were several incidents in which demonstra- tors were confronted by police and several NYCLU /

10 Eyewitness Accounts of Police Actions on February 15

In the aftermath of the serious problems The Use of Horses and Batons to that marred the February 15 antiwar rally, Disperse the Crowd the NYCLU asked the public to submit re- Of the accounts received, reports of police ports of police misconduct and mistreatment using horses and batons to disperse crowds on that they witnessed or experienced.1 In re- the avenues west of the rally were by far the sponse, we received 335 accounts — by e- most numerous. All in all, 126 of the 335 mail, fax, and letter — that document acts of emails, letters and faxes detail how officers on police misconduct large and small. horseback repeatedly rode into dense crowds of people on Second, Third and Lexington In this portion of the report, the NYCLU Avenues. Despite the obvious danger and the presents some of the accounts it received, presence of children, mounted officers pressed with verbatim excerpts from many. These through the crowds in an effort to clear the reports from hundreds of New Yorkers who streets. They were followed by baton wielding were at — or were attempting to get to — riot police who knocked protesters down in an the antiwar rally are presented in the follow- attempt to push them onto the sidewalk. ing categories2: While there is some conflict in the reports with regard to the times of the incidents, the ac- Excessive Force counts give a fairly consistent and graphic por- Abuse of Authority trayal of a dangerously disproportionate and Discourtesy unnecessary police action. Problems with Pens Misconduct in Times Square Second Avenue Mistreatment of Arrested Protesters Thirty-five witness accounts described the deployment of horses up and down Second Excessive Force Avenue between 1 and 3:30 in the afternoon.4 With information scarce and ac- The New York Civil Liberties received cess to First Avenue blocked, the crowds on 198 accounts in which witnesses contend Second Avenue between 50th and 61st that police officers used unnecessary and ex- Streets swelled. At 50th Street, people began cessive force in and around the rally site on spilling off of the sidewalks. The protesters February 15.3 were shoulder to shoulder and it was diffi-

1 On February 18th, 2003, the New York Civil Liberties Union sive force, including deadly force.” The second is ‘Abuse of posted a solicitation via email for reports of police abuse Authority,’ which is “the improper use of police powers to and police interference with people who were trying to get threaten, intimidate or otherwise mistreat a civilian.” ‘Discourtesy’ is’ defined as “rude or profane gestures and/or T to the February 15 demonstration. Between that day and S E

March 10, 2003, the NYCLU received 335 responses, which language”, and the fourth category, ‘Offensive Language’, T O have been compiled into a file entitled “Correspondence on includes “slurs that refer to a person’s race, ethnicity, R P religion, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation.”

the Subject of the Events of February 15, 2003, Received at G N the Offices of the New York Civil Liberties Union from 3 I

This tally does not include incidents that occurred in Times T

February 18 until March 10.” Each of the responses has S

Square after the rally on First Avenue had ended. E been numbered and will be referred to hereafter by its des- R 4 R ignated number preceded by “R”. Of these accounts, two describe incidents involving horses A 2 at 57th Street, one at 56th Street, three at 55th Street, The New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board recog- seven at 54th Street, thirteen at 53rd Street, four at 52nd nizes four broad categories of police officer misconduct. The Street, two at 51st Street, one at 50th Street, and one at first, ‘Force’, is defined as “an act of unnecessary or exces- 49th Street. NYCLU / 11 Eyewitness Accounts of Police Actions on February 15

cult to breathe. Eventually, large crowds The police attempted to push people out filled the streets in multiple locations up and of the street, but the sidewalks were too down the avenue. crowded and the cross streets were still blocked off. Finally, officers opened up the A Muslim demonstrator standing at 56th metal barricades allowing the demonstrators Street observed a dozen horses ride into the to flow towards First Avenue. crowd. “Suddenly they just came . . . toward us,” she reported. “There was no room to On Second Avenue between 53rd Street and go anywhere as the sidewalks were packed 54th Street, the police set up lines of vehicles with people. [O]f a sudden I found myself and horses across both ends of the block. As betwin(sic) two horses. . . People were the lines moved towards one another, the den- screaming.” After several elderly women sity of the crowd increased. The police de- fell in the fracas, the horses retreated, but the manded that people move onto the sidewalk, police completely surrounded the protestors. but the crowd responded that there was no The witness reported that officers then room. The police put up a plastic mesh barri- chased after a few individuals. Eventually cade, and kept demanding that the people ten patrolmen were able to take two of them move back. Suddenly, without prior warning, down to the ground, and two officers pro- the police dropped the barricade and the horses ceeded to beat the protestors as they lay on rode in. “The police could see, that there was the pavement.5 no place for us to go, but charged us anyway. The horses had more decency than the officers, At Second Avenue and 55th Street, a wit- they refused to trample us.”8 Several of the of- ness reported that seven mounted officers rode ficers tried to back up to give the horses a run- into the crowd: “They started trying to clear ning start, but still they would not breach the people out of the street but there were too crowd. “Then one of the officers…turned his many of us to fit on the sidewalk, and the side horse around, and tryed (sic) to back him into street was still blocked off. The other side of the croud (sic).” In the confusion, he bumped the street leading to 3rd avenue sported anoth- into another horse. There was a ruckus be- er line of officers, and from the crowd we tween them, and one of the horses kicked. started to hear people yelling that officers in Luckily, no one was hurt.9 riot gear were coming up from the south, too. In case you’ve never seen a horse up close, they An older woman, who is a cancer survivor, are big animals! And at least one of them was was arrested after being charged by horses on bucking and whinnying, despite the efforts of the sidewalk at Second Avenue and 51st Street. the officer trying to keep it calm.”6 She reports: “I was backed into a pole and against many people. Two officers charged The witness further recalled: “And then their horses into us without warning and then they started pushing. The horses pushed the wheeled around within a foot of me. I was ter- people and the people pushed the other peo- rified and put out my hands to protect myself. ple. I was somewhere in the middle, trying to My doctor warned me that if my nose gets hit, get out of the way so the people getting I could lose a portion of it because of the skin pushed by the horses wouldn’t get hurt. cancer surgery. . .They said I hit a horse. I Only, the people I was pushing into didn’t would never hit a horse. I come from an eques- know that there were people getting pushed trian family.”10 by horses and anyway, there wasn’t any- where for them to go!! We shouted ‘people Third Avenue are getting pushed by horses!’ and let our- Sixty accounts of February 15 specifically T 11 S

E selves get pushed like a wave to the sidewalk, describe the use of horses on Third Avenue. T 7 O but we were literally on top of each other.” The most dramatic incident that was report- R P

G N I

T 5 10 S R-212 R-336 E

R 6 11

R R-109 Of these accounts, one describes incidents involving A 7 Id. horses at 59th Street, one at 54th Street, thirty-one at 53rd 8 R-198 Street, seven at 52nd Street, eight at 51st Street, six at 50th Street, and one at 49th Street. 9 R-198 NYCLU /

12 Eyewitness Accounts of Police Actions on February 15 ed occurred on the block between 52nd and into the group, and even though they had 53rd Streets. However, horses were also em- permission to be there, many were arrested.18 ployed above and below this area. Meanwhile, the situation on Third Avenue Several protesters told of being tied up in and 53rd Street grew serious. The police used pedestrian gridlock for an hour or more as barricades to pen individuals at the front of the they tried to move up Third Avenue from crowd on the east side of the avenue. The sheer 47th to 51st Street.12 Progress uptown was mass of people made it impossible for many of very difficult because the police were holding those in front to disperse. On the west side of up block-long groups of demonstrators for the avenue, a witness reports that the police considerable periods of time. At approxi- were only allowing the protestors to exit single mately 2:30 PM, marchers moving up and file to get to Lexington Avenue.19 A history down Third Avenue converged on the block professor caught in the middle of the crowd between 52nd and 53rd Streets.13 The block described the scene: opened up and the crowd began to congre- gate in the middle.14 After thirty minutes, the “After nearly 30 minutes of immobility, avenue was completely packed with people. the crowd stood packed into the block. One The sheer mass of protesters made it difficult could barely move in any direction. for the crowd to disperse, and the group Suddenly, a row of maybe a dozen mounted swelled towards the barricade. police appeared in front of us…. They made no announcement, issued no warnings. . . As the situation came to a head, the po- and soon a phalanx of horses rushed us. lice response was confused, uncoordinated Immediately, screams erupted from the front and contradictory. A Legal Aid lawyer who as people were pushed aside and knocked watched the events unfold reported that at over. As some people fell, the cops kicked 53rd Street, the police were telling people to their horses’ sides, urging them on. The go to 51st Street in order to move west. horse looked scared as they stepped on peo- When protesters reached 51st Street, howev- ple who fell. The police seemed intent on er, other officers directed them back north driving the noses of their mounts into our to 54th Street.15 Another witness was al- heads…. A young man and woman stood in lowed to move east through the barricade at the middle of the street clinging to each oth- 53rd Street along with fifty or so other er while the horse knocked them from side demonstrators.16 Halfway down the street, to side. . . . I saw a young mother pass her however, the group was met by police from child to her husband as she fell, and an el- Second Avenue. Rushing towards the pro- derly couple fall, arms entwined, onto two testors, the police screamed, “You can’t go younger marchers.”20 this way! Get back now!” The protestors re- sponded that police at Third Avenue were Although the streets were cleared of people, letting people through. The officers re- the density of the crowd on the sidewalk made sponded, “No they aren’t!” and “We don’t it impossible to disperse. The police would not care!” In the protestor’s own words: “Then, let people off of the curb, but the sheer size of the cops started shoving us and beating us the crowd made it impossible to move north with those billyclubs, but we couldn’t move or south. The police turned to the horses to backwards because we were pushing into get the crowd moving. one another and ‘clumping.’” 17 On the eastern side of the street, a witness The officers continued to wield their ba- claims that six to twelve horses repeatedly T S

tons as the horses came down the street from rode into the crowd, trying to push people E

21 T Second Avenue. The mounted officers rode north. At around the same time, however, O R P

G N I

12 17 T R-60 Id. S E

13 18 R

R-292 Id. R 14 R-51 19 R-63 A 15 R-136 20 R-202 16 21 R-103 R-112 NYCLU /

13 Eyewitness Accounts of Police Actions on February 15

another demonstrator reports that two other The horse’s spit coated my lens …my vision riders on the northern side of 53rd Street was blurry…. 29 were pushing the crowd back south towards the intersection.22 On the western side of the On the southeast corner of 52nd Street, Third Avenue, the situation was no better: horses were driven into a crowd on the side- walk, knocking over a 79 year old lawyer “The horsemen came and stood on both and his five-year-old son.30 The gentleman sides of the 53rd sidewalk, about six horses described the scene in a letter to Mayor on each side. On signal they started forward Bloomberg: toward the crowd. There were barricades along the street so people had no choice but “52nd Street was blocked off. All of a sud- to begin backing up toward Lexington. As den a troop of mounted police officers moved they did, the horses quickened their pace into the crowd, the horses high-stepping and and began trotting. People started running moving their flanks to the side, and went in fear before them. All of this on the legal through the peaceful and standing crowd, who sidewalks. The chase continued the whole were not blocking anything. The result was length of the block”23 that people were pushed out of the way and falling bodies came towards me. My son and I Not all of the mounted officers were sat- were knocked over, I onto my back and he, isfied with their role. One mounted police- fortunately, on top of me but a woman in man was overheard telling another, “what front of him was about to fall on and crush the f**k does Lieutenant F**khead think him when I used my arms to deflect her to the he’s doing?”24 side so that she did not injure him.” 31

Batons were also used against the crowd. Lexington Avenue A 63-year-old Manhattan woman reported Ten of the reports contained references to that a police officer “turned his nightstick horses and helmeted police on Lexington around, pointed it directly at me, and Avenue.32 Of these, one account gave an ex- jammed me so hard in the gut that I went tremely detailed description of the police re- crashing to the sidewalk.”25 sponse on the block between 51st Street and 52nd Street at around 3 PM. According to The dispersal at 53rd Street forced crowds the man’s description, the block was packed to swell all over the area. Again, the horses from one side to the other. Protesters were were called in to get people out of the chanting and proudly displaying their ban- streets. At Third Avenue and 50th Street, a ners and signs. A man who claimed to repre- protester witnesses several horses pushing a sent the rally organizers came into the group of demonstrators onto the sidewalk.26 crowd and asked people to disperse. After The same occurred at 51st Street, where the five minutes he realized that this effort was dense crowd included “many strollers and futile and he left. Meanwhile, the police re- wheel chairs.”27 One woman needed to go to sponse was gathering. A line of officers, the hospital for neurological tests after a many in riot gear, formed at the north end horse swung around and cracked her in the of block with horses in front of them. skull.28 She wrote, “ I felt an impact like a 2 Approximately a dozen undercover officers by 4 board cracking me on the forehead. I who were stationed in the crowd pulled remember jerking backward against the per- badges from under their coats and sweat- son behind me. My glasses squashed against shirts and retreated behind the line of offi- my nose and face and my right lens got a cers. At the same time, another line of T S

E deep scratch.. . .I felt dazed and lightheaded. horses appeared on the south side of the T O R P 22 28 G R-136 R-211 N I 23 29 T R-145 Id. S

E 24 30

R R-137 R-222 R

A 25 R-193 31 Id. 26 R-23 32 There were five accounts of horses at Lexington and 53rd, 27 R-211 four at 52nd and two at 51st Street. NYCLU /

14 Eyewitness Accounts of Police Actions on February 15 block. Officers were walking back and forth Pepper Spray along the lines giving orders. In an effort to The New York Civil Liberties Union discourage horses from charging the crowd, received fifteen reports of the police using a group of protesters decided to sit down in pepper spray — in apparent violation of front of the horses lined up at 52nd Street.33 NYPD policy37 — to disperse the dense crowds that had formed largely as a result of “The mounted police charged us with the decision of police officials to cut off access to horses, but the horses shied away at the last most of the streets leading to the rally.38 On moment. A few people were knocked about Second Avenue and 57th Street and Third a bit but the line held. There was much Avenue and 53rd Street, witnesses reported shouting from the mounted police, and that officers shot pepper spray into the eyes neighs from the horses, along with some of protestors pressed up against the barri- screaming from the front lines of the crowd. cades. A 63-year old woman reported that, The horses turned and returned to their po- “I…was Maced in the left eye and face on sitions across the street, to turn back and Saturday at the peace march by a police offi- gain momentum for another charge, but cer at 53rd Street and Third Avenue. We again they shied at the last moment as they were forced by the police to march into a were directly over us. The horses returned to cul-de-sac, and the weight of the people be- their line on 52nd street. The line of police hind us pressed the crowd against the ‘pen,’ horses at the south end of the block (on 51st whereupon a police officer sprayed me and street) then appeared to give up; they turned several other people.”39 As they were crushed and walked away. Seeing this, many in the up against the barriers, the demonstrators crowd thought that we had achieved victory begged the officers to let them climb over to and stood up to cheer. This proved to be a receive medical attention, but their pleas mistake; seeing that about half of the crowd were ignored. At the corner of Lexington was standing, the horse line from the north Avenue and 51st Street, the entire crowd was end of the block charged again, this time affected when officers shot a stream of pep- with much greater success.” 34 per spray into the air, allowing the mist to descend down on the mass of people.40 A The police knocked bodies to either side, man who was standing in the crowd de- and people began to run for the sidewalks. scribed how the scene unfolded: The line of police rushed into the crowd and began pushing people to the sidewalks. “Suddenly I saw a small liquid stream Demonstrators who tried to reenter the street overhead that looked like water and I actu- were either thrown forcefully into the crowd ally thought that the Police were beginning or arrested.35 to spray water on the crowds. I didn’t know what the stream was. About a few seconds A man who himself was arrested for later I felt excruciating pain in my eyes and standing in front of a deli on Lexington face and ran over to the side of a building to Avenue, described the arrest of another: try to rub my eyes and soothe the pain. A “In the middle of the street I saw 4 officers bystander told me that it was probably pep- very roughly handcuffing an elderly man per spray. I went to a small store to get wa- who lay face-down on the ground. I heard ter to wash my face and eyes. The pain was an officer say that he had hurt a police terrible and lasted for almost an hour.” 41 horse. When I spoke to the arrestee later in prison, I learned that he was a Presbyterian Even at locations far from the main ac- minister who had grabbed the bridle of a tion, the police deployed pepper spray. In T S

police horse as it was about to run into a one account, an older demonstrator describes E

36 T woman with a small child.” how an officer discharged pepper spray into O R P

G

33 38 N R-315 There were four accounts complaining of pepper spray I T

34 S

Id. being used at 53rd and Third, two at Lexington and 51st, E 35 R Id. one at Second and 93rd, one at Second and 57th, one at R Second and 53rd and one in Times Square. A 36 R-315 39 R-29, see also R-17, R-19 37 NYPD Patrol Guide Procedure No. 212-95 40 R-105, R-225 41 R-225 NYCLU / 15 Eyewitness Accounts of Police Actions on February 15

the eyes of two students from Hastings-On- ficer had pulled her right arm behind her Hudson high school who were walking on back, the woman “asked him to go easy on the sidewalk at Second Avenue and 93rd my left arm as it was broken and bandaged Street between 1:30 and 2 PM.42 According and showed him the cast on my leg due to to the gentleman, the attack was “brutal” an injury on 2/11, he ignored my screams as and “unprovoked.”43 he tightly applied his handcuffs and pushed me forward as he pulled back both arms Excessive Force during Arrest and I continued to scream. He ignored my Witnesses filed twenty-three reports that limping and kept pushing me over to a document excessive force during arrests.44 parked car where he pinned me until a fe- Although the details are too numerous to male officer joined him. I did not see her record fully here, several examples are worth badge. When an unmarked black car drove mentioning. In one instance on Second up, they . . . took turns . . . pushing me into Avenue at 53rd Street, a female demonstrator the very cramped back seat behind the driver. saw the police throw a young man to the The female officer then insisted I slide over to ground.45 The youth was faced down in the far end instead of having me enter on horse manure as six officers piled on top of that side. I could not move my feet and just him.46 At the corner of Second Avenue and leaned my torso over because my right foot 59th Street at around 2 PM, demonstrators was in a cast and both feet were caught be- looked on as three police officers pummeled hind the back of the driver’s seat and the bot- a youth to the ground.47 “The kid looked to tom of the back seat. When I groaned in be late teens, early 20’s. While on the ground pain, the female officer taunted me with they continued to beat him with fists and bil- ‘Stop the act, I’m not falling for it!’” 53 ly clubs in a ridiculous and horrifying show of force.”48 Abuse of Authority

Witnesses at Third Avenue and 51st Street Threats and Provocations saw a similar occurrence after which the offi- Including complaints by members of the cers handcuffed the protestor and dragged press, there are at least twenty accounts of him down the stairs of the subway.49 Others February 15 that describe instances in which reported that police officers beat a man who the police used their powers to threaten, in- was lying on the ground in the fetal position, timidate or otherwise mistreat civilians. A and officers sat on a protestor who seemed demonstrator from the Solidarity with unconscious with blood around his head.50 Palestine Contingent reported that when her In a different email, a demonstrator reported group was gathering to walk to the rally at that an officer slammed a young boy head Second Avenue and 42nd Street, a policeman first into a police van and then threw him to told them that they could not chant without the pavement.51 Another demonstrator was a sound permit.54 As a result, the group was arrested for not moving quickly enough to forced to negotiate with police for half an disperse on 47th Street heading west.52 hour before finally receiving ‘permission.’55 In addition, eleven accounts contend that po- Even on First Avenue, police used exces- lice officers ripped signs and banners out of sive force while making an arrest. A woman the hands of protesters and destroyed them.56 whose transgression consisted of trying to A Professor Emeritus at CUNY had his join her mother, who had just moved into the squash racquet seized and thrown into the next pen with her union group, was shoved garbage by a police officer because it had a by a police officer and arrested. After the of- sign taped to it.57 Four others complained T S E

T 43 50 O Id. R-177, R-234 R 44 51 P

This tally does not include incidents that occurred in R-230 G 52

N Times Square after the rally on First Avenue had ended.

I R-240

T 45 53 S R-39 R-75 E 46 R Id. 54

R R-57 A 47 R-106 55 Id. 48 Id. 56 E.g. R-75, R-143, R-144, R-164 49 R-210 57 R-188 NYCLU /

16 Eyewitness Accounts of Police Actions on February 15 that they were either accosted or arrested erately gave false answers when they asked only after they began taking pictures of po- them for directions to the rally.63 In addition, lice activity.58 at a feeder march that began in Union Square, police cornered demonstrators from In another report, a disabled demonstra- two sides on the sidewalk for ten minutes. tor described how an officer on First Avenue Although demonstrators have the right to broke her wheelchair: march on the sidewalk without a permit so long as they do not interfere with pedestrian “After about 4 hours [on First Avenue traffic, the police arbitrarily decided to break and 58th Street], I started to feel sick, and I the Union Square feeder march into groups had to pee as only an old diabetic woman of fifty and move them forward one group at who has had too much surgery can have to a time. When the first group stopped to wait pee. I started to go home, and a nasty police for the others, the police threatened to arrest woman…said I couldn’t go downtown. I them for blocking the sidewalk.64 couldn’t believe my ears. I’ve been demon- strating since I was a young woman in “Naturally, we waited for the next group 1958, but I have never see anything more pf people to meet us at the end of the block. vulgar than what started to happen. I was Reacting to this, the police said we could not sick, so I quietly started to wheel downtown, stop walking, we had to keep moving along and…[the officer] grabbed my wheelchair, the street. The justification given was that we swung me around and broke my chair. The were blocking the sidewalk; which we clearly metal was bent, I couldn’t reach the con- weren’t. Despite this, we tried to not block trols, and I couldn’t move from the spot. I the sidewalk even more by lining up against started to panic.” 59 a chain link fence, thereby taking up as little room of the sidewalk as possible. We told the Unreasonable arrest threats and provoca- police we were not blocking the sidewalk at tions were also present throughout the day. which point one officer got behind me (I was In one report, a witness watched a policeman the last in line) and shoved me five feet for- stop a teenager riding a bicycle down Second ward, into the next person, by using his Avenue at 57th Street.60 The officer told the nightstick on my shoulder blades.” 65 youth that he had to go a different way and tried to push his bike in that direction. As Mistreatment of the Press the youth argued with the officer, a witness Members of the press did not escape the began to take photos. The officer told the heavy-handed tactics of the police on teen to “smile” and they posed for a picture. February 15. The New York Civil Liberties He then asked the photographer “do you Union received six accounts of problems that want to take a picture of me punching him were unique to the press. In several in- in the face next?” The teenager became stances, officers arbitrarily accused legitimate frightened, and he began to struggle to free press members with valid press credentials of himself. Three male officers rushed over and possessing false documentation, and as a re- pushed him up against a building. They ar- sult, many were unable to leave the pens on rested him and confiscated the bicycle.61 First Avenue to get to the stage.66 In some cases, the police seemed to become more ag- On First Avenue, three demonstrators re- gressive when they found themselves dealing ported that the police used barking dogs in with the press. One woman reported that her order to keep people from climbing out of son, a newspaper photographer who was overflowing pens.62 Other instances of abuse wearing a press pass, “got knocked down T S

occurred far away from the rally site. Two three times by officers when he tried to take E T witnesses reported that police officers delib- photos of officers wrestling with some pro- O R P

G N I

58 63 T R-36 R-35, R253 S E

59 64 R

R-87 R-91 R 60 R-192 65 Id. A 61 Id. 66 R-237 62 R-62, R-251, R-309 NYCLU /

17 Eyewitness Accounts of Police Actions on February 15

testors and arresting them. At one point, 72nd Street, protesters were again told to while my son was kneeling on the ground move north, and so on and so forth.71 taking a photo of a protestor pinned face down being handcuffed, an officer grabbed As they were directed further and further my son by the back of his jacket and threw uptown, some people abandoned the idea of him back into the crowd.”67 attending the rally and went home. Most, how- ever, turned around and began to walk south, On First Avenue, a reporter from Boston determined to find a way to reach the site. wrote that, trying to get to the stage, “i showed my press badge from indymedia Discourtesy boston . . . officer o’brien, pushed me and i fell, hitting my elbow on a street curb. he Twenty-one accounts complain of pro- laughed at me because i almost fell in horse fane or abusive language, which added to shit….” The same reporter was later prevent- the tension. In some reports, the language ed from leaving the rally: “the police would- was mild, but the context reveals that the n’t let us leave the rally . . . a police officer in officers allowed their personal feelings to uniform, but no badge put his nightstick interfere with their work. In one case, police against my chest and screamed “shut the were heard responding to the chant “what fuck up!” at me repeatedly. he pressed the do we want” by yelling back, “war.”72 In nightstick in and i started feeling a burn, so i another instance, at Third Avenue and 50th gave up and waited an hour with the rest of Street, protestors responded to police pres- the group to be released from 1st Ave.”68 sure to move to the sidewalk by screaming that there was no place to go. Instead of Misdirection and Misinformation easing up on the batons and horses, they re- Between noon and 2 PM protestors at- sponded, “go to Iraq!”73 Other officers tempting to walk east to the rally site were were heard referring to the crowd as “hip- met with metal barricades, antagonism and pies,”74 and one even told an injured misdirection from the police. After asking for demonstrator demanding an explanation, instructions on how to access First Avenue, “that is what you get for protesting.”75 witnesses reported that officers either told them that they did not know or that they When situations arose that required calm should “go home.”69 Of the reports received, decision-making, some officers revealed their twenty-four document incidents where the confusion in the harsh language that they police gave either misleading directions or no employed. At Third Avenue and 62nd Street, information at all. In addition, the lack of two police were by themselves erecting a bar- coordination between police officers at the ricade. A demonstrator overheard one officer cross streets on Second and Third Avenues scream to the other, “don’t leave me here confused and frustrated the demonstrators. alone! If anybody touches me, I swear to god One protester reported that on Second I’ll f**king shoot them!”76 Invectives were Avenue, “The cops refused to let anybody most prevalent when officers were making over to First Avenue from about 50th St. to arrests. As an officer pulled a protester’s 61st St. They herded us in circles, forced us hands behind his back he yelled “FUCKING to walk aimlessly, and refused to give infor- SCUMBAG!! YOU FUCKING SCUMBAG!” mation.”70 On Third Avenue, demonstrators in his ear.77 One officer called a woman a complained that police directed them to walk “fucking cunt” as he was putting her in north to 59th Street in order to cross over to handcuffs. Another yelled “get the fuck up, First Avenue. At 59th Street, however, the of- get on your fucking feet” to a man he had T 78 S

E ficers manning the barricade told them that just thrown to the ground. On Second T

O access had been moved to 72nd Street. At Avenue at 55th Street, a policeman was un- R P

G N I T

S 67 73

E R-167 R-170 R 68 74 R R-232 R-171 A 69 R-183, R-249 75 R-278 70 R-56 76 R-133 71 77

NYCLU / R-123, R-169 R-236 72 R-171 78 R-114 18 Eyewitness Accounts of Police Actions on February 15 satisfied with the speed an elderly woman cious. At one [point] there was not a single was exiting the area. He screamed at her, person around me for a ten foot radius.”84 “move you old b*ch.”79 When the crowds in some pens grew too Even at the rally site, half empty pens large, the police refused to let people out. A did not prevent tensions from arising. On protester who was on the block just south of one occasion, a police officer took identifi- the 59th Street Bridge reported that the pen cation from a group of people who were in- was dangerously overcrowded and people side a pen. He proceeded to write their were desperate to leave.85 Despite the threat names and social security numbers on a of injury, the police ordered the demonstra- piece of paper with the title ‘Counter tors to stay inside the metal barricades and Terrorist Intelligence.’80 One of the protest- even used barking dogs as a deterrent.86 In ers told him in a respectful manner that this another account, a demonstrator described was a form of harassment. The officer re- how police mishandled a large group of peo- portedly replied, “You want to see harass- ple who had been allowed to enter the pen ment? I’ll pull you over this barrier and between 54th Street and 55th Street from kick the living sh** out of you…that’s ha- Second Avenue: ras!sment (sic).”81 “As we turned onto 1st avenue to cheers Problems with Barricades and Pens of those penned in from 55th to 56th,,(sic) Twenty reports complained about the re- we were quite shocked to see there was a strictive use of pens at the rally. The First completely empty street stretching from Avenue pens were constructed by connecting 54th to 55th streets…. We couldn’t really interlocking metal barricades into block-long hear the speakers, but we could finally see squares. The barricades ran from the east where the stage was, and that people were curb of First Avenue to 15 feet shy of the speaking….When we were about to leave, west curb, allowing for an emergency exit probably an hour later, we noticed that the lane. On the north-south axis, the barricades block had completely filled in…. The crowd ran corner to corner so that the cross streets was pressed up so tight against the metal remained free of protestors.82 As people barricades that a woman was getting hys- came east to the rally site, officers herded terical. She shouted ‘you have to let me out! them into the pens. I want to go home! I want to go home!’ ‘Stop pushing,’ said the officer. ‘I’m not Once a pen was deemed to be ‘full’, the pushing,’ she answered, ‘I’m getting officers closed it and refused to let anyone pushed!’ The next thing I saw, the metal else enter. However, the officers often also re- barricades at the side of the crowd fell over fused to allow people to reenter pens once and people flooded out onto the street and they had left. This, despite the fact that the down the side street back up to 2nd avenue. police had prohibited public restrooms at the But a few minutes later, the crowd had rally site and it was 15 º F outside. Protesters filled in again and the barricades were back who exited were directed to move away from up. The swelling and tone of anxiety re- the rally site.83 turned to the crowd…. I watched as a mother handed her two small children over Nonetheless, witness accounts indicated the barricade to a stranger who carried that there were empty areas on First Avenue them to the sidewalk. One of the children, when the crowds of protesters on Second maybe six years old, was screaming for her Third and Lexington Avenues began to swell mother. An officer saw this and asked what T S

as police refused to open up the cross streets was wrong. The little girl kept screaming E T to relieve congestion. One witness described ‘Mommy!’ and pointing at the crowd. ‘We’ll O R P

the rally site as “surprisingly calm…and spa- get her back,’ the officer assured her. And he G N I T S E

79 83 R

R-212 R-237 R 80 R-100 84 R-99 A 81 Id. 85 R-62 82 R-206 86 Id., R-251, R-309 NYCLU /

19 Eyewitness Accounts of Police Actions on February 15

helped the woman climb over the barricade At this point, witnesses stated that the police and brought her to her children.” 87 appeared to arbitrarily pick people out of the crowd in order to make examples of them.91 As the crowds thinned out later in the In one instance, an observer reported that “a day, however, the police refused to permit young man who was rushed by at least three new protesters to enter the pens from Second police officers initially, [was] thrown to the Avenue. In addition, protesters were not al- ground by the officer with helmet #14478, lowed to move forward to other pens in or- then choked with a baton by helmet #10752. der to consolidate. He was held down by at least four officers at one point as his face was pushed into the Despite the use of pens to control the pavement. He seemed to give no resistance crowds, protesters reported several instances and shouted for the police to stop. He had a in which the police used unnecessary force visible cut on his forehead with a good on First Avenue. In one account, a demon- amount of blood.”92 strator claimed that an officer assaulted him when he tried to walk through a gap be- A young woman who was standing at the tween metal barricades. “An officer first front of the crowd was also tackled by a grabbed my left upper arm in a manner group of four or five officers. As the officers forceful enough to be able to throw me back lunged at her, the crowd surged forward into the crowd with this move. He then ask and the confrontation escalated. Batons (sic) what did I think I was doing; I replied were flying and someone in the crowd that I was leaving the march in order to get a yelled “everyone sit down.”93 This calmed meal at the corner diner, a few feet from the situation for a time, but the police soon where we were standing.”88 brought metal barricades in and used them to press the sitting protesters closer and Police Misconduct in closer to the buildings behind them. A male Times Square After the Rally police officer suddenly charged through the Twenty reports documented events that barricades and attacked a protester sitting occurred in and around Times Square after in the middle of the crowd. Another police- the rally had ended. Of these, nine gave first man had to enter the fracas, just to pull his person accounts of arrests. coworker off of the young man.94 At this point, officers announced that everyone When the rally came to an end, a large would be arrested, and the police stormed group of protesters decided to walk together the crowd. While pinning one woman’s towards Times Square. “After the rally came arms behind her back, an officer screamed to a close, many of us were still dissatisfied. that she was a “fucking cunt!” Others pro- We felt that our rights had been stolen from testers received multiple cuts and bruises as us and that we hand not been allowed to the police cleared the sidewalk.95 voice our opinions on the impending war. So we chose to walk together to Times Square, Mistreatment of Arrested Protesters to be seen by the general public.”89 Approximately 350 people were arrested When the group reached 42nd Street be- for actions related to the peace rally on tween Broadway and Seventh Avenue, they February 15. The New York Civil Liberties found a line of police in riot gear blocking Union received thirty complaints regarding their path. “The police proceeded to use the conditions faced by those under deten- their clubs to push us onto the sidewalk, on tion. Some of the complaints are familiar. In T S

E the north side of the street just before 7th seven accounts, arrestees contended that they T

O Avenue the (sic) police were obviously very were never told the reason for their arrest, R P

G tense and frightened—they seemed over- never read their rights, and not told what the N

I 90 96

T whelmed and unsure of what to do.” charges were until they were released. S E R

R 87 92

A 109 R-22 88 R-273 93 R-70 89 R-18 94 Id.

NYCLU / 90 R-70 95 Id. 91 96 20 Id., R-22 R-51 Eyewitness Accounts of Police Actions on February 15

Others were questioned about their religious At first, the police told many of the pro- and political beliefs and associations. Nearly testers that they would be taken to the Javitz all were held much longer than necessary. In Center and given Desk Appearance Tickets addition, disorganization and aggressiveness (DATs).105 After several hours of driving on the part of officers in the field created around the city, however, arrestees were tak- several unique and disturbing scenarios. en to One Police Plaza. Once there, the backlog of arrests was so large that protest- Problems began to arise immediately af- ers were forced to sit in the cold, dark vehi- ter the police began picking people up. cles, waiting to get inside. 106 Arrestees, especially those taken early in the day, found themselves in the back of dark Still, the police refused to remove hand- police vans for hours at a time.97 Twelve of cuffs, and denied access to food, water and re- the arrestees complained of spending as stroom facilities. After one group began many as five hours riding around with no demanding to use the bathroom, the police heat, food or drink.98 One arrestee de- chained them together and forced them to scribed his experience: stand in the courtyard outside in the cold. In the words of one arrestee: “We were hauled “It was ultimate claustrophobia; you off the bus (chained together) and brought to couldn’t see anything, but could hear other the middle of a courtyard. We were forced to people in there with you…. They drove us stand there for over 3 hours and freeze (I around (I don’t know where) and every so of- couldn’t feel my hands and feet-and toes).”107 ten, they would open this little window up front and ask us info. If someone didn’t coop- The New York Civil Liberties Union re- erate, they would curse them out and shut it. ceived four other reports in which arrestees Then they’d open it again a while later; the claim that they were forced to stand outside process would repeat, and it never ended.” 99 in the cold for extended periods of time. In one account, an arrestee described the scene Fifteen detainees reported problems aris- as follows: ing from being handcuffed for the extended period prior to processing. Many complained “At around 9:15, they unloaded us in that their plastic handcuffs were on so tightly groups of six. Each of us had one handcuff, that they cut off circulation and eventually attached to the group by a long chain. We broke through the skin.100 One officer admit- were taken outside, and made to stand in a ted that the cuffs were not meant to be used straight line by a wall. There were six other for such a long duration, but refused to re- people already standing in the area, who move them nonetheless.101 When the de- were individually handcuffed, their hands be- tainees asked to use the bathroom, officers hind their backs, some without gloves. Those either ignored them or laughed at the re- without gloves were clearly in pain, there quest.102 Four reports described people being (sic) hands noticeably swelling up and purple. forced to soil themselves as a result of the At around 10:30, a different officer wrote delay.103 One policeman took ‘pity’ on an ar- down our names. It was extremely cold and restee who had been handcuffed in a paddy we were not given gloves or anything. We wagon for four hours: “When I told the offi- had not been given a bathroom break…and cer I was in danger of losing control of my none of us had been given food. My feet be- bladder, he let me use the cup. He uncuffed came very cold, as did my hands. There were me, and I was only allowed to relieve myself many policemen around who acted profes- in a compartment that was visible to the rest sionally, but none really knew what was go- 104 T S

of the [people] arrested.” ing on, none knew how long we’d be made E T O R P 97 103 R-30, R-103 R-30, R-103, R-119 G N

98 104 I

R-30, R-36 R-114 T 99 105 S R-103 Id., R-30 E R

100 106 R

E.g. R-36 R-30 A 101 R-36 107 R-103 102 R-30, R-36, R-103, R-143 NYCLU /

21 Eyewitness Accounts of Police Actions on February 15

to stand outside. Finally at around 11:30, my chain group, a group of six, was taken into a different police wagon.” 108

Between midnight and 2am, the police de- cided to release some of the protesters with DATs.109 The majority, however, were kept overnight in holding cells. In one case, an el- derly man was held until Monday, and he was denied access to his medication.110 While in the holding cell, the detainees were fed once, and given water and restroom breaks. They were also fingerprinted, photographed, and four accounts contend that arrestees were in- terrogated multiple times despite requests for counsel.111 When one arrestee requested a lawyer, the interrogators told him that it was unnecessary because they only had to answer a few simple questions.112 However, eight ac- counts tell of detainees being questioned about their organizational affiliations. In one case, an arrestee claims to have been asked: “What is your religion?” “Are you Muslim?” and “What organization do you belong to?”113 Meanwhile lawyers seeking access to those who had been arrested were banned from Police Plaza until late in the evening when only one or two lawyers were allowed in to meet with a handful of arrestees. ❖ T S E T O R P

G N I T S E 108 112 R R-114 R-315 R A 109 R-103 113 R-257 110 R-118 111 R-30, R-36, R-51 NYCLU /

22 there needstobeamajoroverhaul ofthe marchers andtherestof city. Ifthisisso, adequately addressthesecurity needsofthe cers, andyettheNYPDclaimeditcouldnot ment intheworldwithcloseto40,000offi- dent inTel Aviv, Belfast,andRamallah. marches andrallieswereheldwithoutinci- throughout thecapital.Inaddition,large eral police,forsecurityathigh-risklocations responsible, alongwithafewthousandfed- lice haveonly3,600officersandare dent. TheWashington DCMetropolitanpo- with over100,000participantswithoutinci- major anti-warmarchesinthelast6months Similarly, Washington DChashadseveral ulation of7millionhasjustover25,000. about 2,500officersandLondonwithapop- than NewYork’s. SanFranciscohasonly each ofthesecitiesaredramaticallysmaller Orange Alert.Thepolicedepartmentsin San Francisco,likeNewYork wason bombings byBasqueseparatistgroups,and Spanish citieshavebeenrecenttargetsof nor isolatedincidents. very largemarchesandrallieswithatmostmi- serious securityconcernswereabletohandle and Brusselsshowthatcitieswiththeirown Valencia, Seville,Dublin,LosAngeles,Athens, Sydney, SanFrancisco,Amsterdam,Montreal, and over100,000inDamascus,Melbourne, London, Rome,Paris,Madrid,andBarcelona between 500,000and2millioninBerlin, without anymajorincidents.Mediareportsof were abletoaccommodatelargemarches 114 Permission toMarch Around theWorld onFebruary15 Protest MarchesandPoliceActions streets foranti-war rally” Davis, Rhea.2003.“Protestersexpected topackS.F. New York’s isthelargestpolicedepart- London wasalsoonahighstateofalert, On February15citiesallovertheworld The AssociatedPress . January18. marches ofover200,000people. er than500officersforitsrecentanti-war large events.SanFranciscohasdeployedfew- cally smallernumbersofpolicetohandle for largeevents.Othercitiesutilizedramati- way thedepartmentconceptualizessecurity saw cops...Theysimplyweren’t there.” strators. FrommorningtoeveningInever fully invadedbyanendlessflowofdemon- Too manypeople.Allthestreetswerepeace- laughing andtalking” spotted themintwosastoreentranceway, there weresomanypeople.Ioccasionally gradually disappearedfromsightbecause gear wasdefinitelyoutofthe question.The cruisers withafewcopshere andthere;riot march; therewerenomounted police,only lice presencealongthesidelinesof were tobeseenin9or10smallgroups.” of copshereandthere,nomorethan100 tersections inonesandtwos.” for trafficcontrolpurposes—standingatin- these conclusions: Statements frommarchparticipantsecho barricades orofficersalongmarchroutes. ed aboveshowednolargedeploymentof tographs frommarchesatallofthecitieslist- of sensitivelocations.Areviewpho- of breakawaymarchesorstationedinfront officers areprimarilyheldinreservecase few ornobarricadesliningroutesandpolice Protest.” KPIX.com. March18. KPIX Television. 2003.“DozensBlockMarketSt.inAnti-War ● ● ● ● ● Rome: Montreal: Madrid: Sydney: San Francisco: “There wasnomarch‘route.’ “The policepresentwerethere “There wereonlysmallgroups “There wasaverylightpo- “The copsbasically 114 There are 23 NYCLU / ARRESTING PROTEST 24 NYCLU / ARRESTING PROTEST Protest MarchesandPoliceActionsAroundtheWorld onFebruary15 Sydney, Australia London Press. Policing inaCapital City end points.” ployed atintersectionsandstarting motor bikesandmountedpolicewerede- 115 in anyway.” vehicle traffic,butdidnothinderthemarch police blockedoffalladjacentcross-streetsto numbers. Themarchtherewas solargethat demonstrators becauseofunexpectedly large Angeles istheonlycitythat interfered with expectedly massivecrowdsgathering.Los and takemultipleroutesbecauseoftheun- march tobeginfourhoursaheadofschedule cation. InRome,thepoliceallowed not fitintothepreviouslyagreedtorallylo- as thecrowdgatheredbecausetheycould to changethemarchrouteandrallylocation In Sydney, policeworkedwithprotestleaders city wereclosedtoautomobilesfortheday. ered. InLondon,hugesectionsofthecenter to theunexpectedlylargecrowdsthatgath- cities showedgreatflexibilityinresponding into particularsidestreets.” were afew[barricades]tostoppeoplegoing streets readyforanytroublestarting.There saw somevansfullofpoliceinafewside The policepresencewasn’t heavyalthoughI pairs) alongtherouteatsidesofroad. touch.” “Therewereisolatedpolice(usuallyin were offlimits...Butthepolicingwasverylight here andthere,theofficesofkeycompanies humor thatday. Therewere somebarricades with exemplaryefficiency, decency, andgood Waddington, P.A.J. 1994. ● ● In additiontoallowingmarches,many London: Melbourne: “The Britishpolicebehaved “Police onfoot,carsand . London:University Collegeof Liberty andOrder:PublicOrder march mighthavecreateda tax riot.Policedecidedthat“banningthe march incommemorationofthe1990poll British PollTax declaredtheirintentionto Waddington, pated. AccordingtopolicescholarP.A.J. in situationswhereillegalactivityisantici- tool, however, isalmostneverused—even marches andifnecessarytobanthem.This police thepowertoimposerestrictionson Britain, the1986PublicOrderActgives done indemocraticcountries.InGreat the policetobansomemarches,thisisrarely marchers attheendontosidewalks. forced asmallnumberofremaining allotted inthepermitandsopolice it couldnotbecompletedinthetimeinitially ly disorderly.” Policewerealsoconcerned would havebeendisorganized andpotential- route. Policefearedthatany suchassembly at aknownplaceandfollowingpredictable cipline ofanorganizedmarch—assembling this “wouldnothavebeensubjecttothedis- Trafalgar Squaretodefythebanandthat nizers weremakingplanstooccupy ban.” Theywerealsoconcernedthatorga- to attend,simplyinorderopposethe which mighthaveinspiredmoresupporters Washington D.C. While manycitieshavelawsthatallow 115 in 1991opponentsofthe cause celebre , Protest Marches and Police Actions Around the World on February 15

Bankok, Thailand San Francisco USA

that, “protestors would engage in ‘guerilla tactics’ throughout the West End and so re- enact the mayhem of the original riot.”

New York City ignored these lessons. lier New York City parades. In 1982 the The decision to deny a march permit ended NYPD facilitated a major anti-nuclear march up costing New York City substantially more past the United Nations without incident. in overtime and other expenses than a uni- Approximately 1 million people participated in fied march would have. Commissioner Kelly that event. The police closed off large sections reported that $5 million was spent on of midtown and kept the lines of communica- February 15 to pay for the use of thousands tion open between themselves and demonstra- of officers. This is in sharp contrast to re- tors throughout the preparations and the day ports in the New York Times116 that expens- of the event. There were only a couple of ar- es for policing the 1996 Yankees celebration rests made that day even though many groups parade of between 2 and 4 million people involved had publicly advocated the use of ille- cost approximately $1 million. The New gal tactics for the next day’s demonstrations. York Post117 reported that expenses for the Other large marches past the United Nations in 1998 Yankees parade with crowds over 1 1988 (anti-nuclear) and 1994 (gay and lesbian million cost the city about $600,000, for the rights) without incident. In addition, the City deployment of 3,600 officers. The experience continues to allow a number of very large cul- of the 1998 Yankee event suggests that the tural parades in midtown that draw crowds of City could easily have handled an organized hundreds of thousands including the St. march and rally at much less expense and Patrick’s Day parade, the Israel Day Parade with far fewer officers than were used on and the Puerto Rican Day parade. These pa- February 15. Because of the fixed nature of rades disrupt traffic in Midtown, require the February 15 event, dozens of feeder large numbers of police officers, and often marches were organized without permits and involve significant numbers of arrests for a an unauthorized demonstration in Times variety of usually minor offenses. Square was called. This forced the police to deploy thousands of additional officers to Crowd Control Policies T S

prevent people from gathering in public E T

streets, and led to dozens of arrests and sev- Police crowd control practices have under- O R P

eral injuries west of Third Avenue. gone dramatic changes in the last 30 years. G N I

Prior to the 1970’s police were trained in and T S E

The decision of the NYPD with respect to relied on a doctrine of “Escalated Force,” R R

the February 15 event also contrasted with ear- which was propagated by the FBI and U.S. mil- A

116 Kleinfield, N.R. 1996. “Parade for the Yankees: The 117 Alvarez, Maria. 1998. “Champs Getting a ‘Heroes’ Celebration.” The New York Times. October 30. Welcome-Broadway Parade will be Bigger and Better than NYCLU / ‘96.” New York Post. October 23. 25 26 NYCLU / ARRESTING PROTEST Protest MarchesandPoliceActionsAroundtheWorld onFebruary15 Toronto, Canada jury orpropertydestruction. clear streets,whentherewasnothreatofin- pepper spray, andhorsechargesmerelyto indiscriminately, andfinallyusedbatons, ing thedemonstration,usedarrests quate communicationswithorganizersdur- with organizersandfailedtoestablishade- community activities,cutoffnegotiations based onpreventingalmostanydisruptionof a marchlocation,developedcontrolmodel NYPD refusedtomakeanycounteroffersof In addressingtheeventsofFebruary15 Government Printing Office;Scranton,William.1970. Causes andPreventionofViolence. Milton. 1969. Commission onCivilDisorders. University ofMinnesotaPress. Demonstrations inWestern Democracies. Herbert Reiter, eds. United States:1960-1995.”InDonatelladellaPortaand rests andpreventdeathseriousinjuries. 5) useforceonlytoovercomeresistancear- to greatlengthsavoidtheuseofarrests,and ing communicationwithdemonstrators,4)go el ofcommunitydisruption,3)initiateon-go- speech rights,2)tolerateareasonablyhighlev- Europe calledonpoliceto1)protectfree most departmentsintheUnitedStatesand Management.” Thisnewapproachadoptedby dertook apolicyof“Negotiated this approachoftengenerated,departmentsun- 119 118 itary policetrainingprograms series ofreports Kerner, Otto.1968. McPhail, Clark,etal.1998.“PolicingProtestinthe The NYPDviolatedalloftheseprinciples. Report oftheNationalCommissionon 119 Policing Protest:TheControlofMass Report oftheNationalAdvisory criticizing theviolencethat New York: Dutton;Eisenhower, Washington, DC:U.S. 118 . Followinga Minneapolis: Report 120 Los AngelesUSA employed byothercities. trasted sharplywiththepracticesgenerally lic...It’s notanus-versus-themscenario.” or injureofficersmembersofthepub- tors unlesstheprotestersdamageproperty lice notbeantagonistictowarddemonstra- good television.Itisimportantthatthepo- want policetooverreact...Thatmakesfor “you expectthatprotestersaregoingto Police DeputyChiefRobertKlotzsays, blocking streets—formerMetropolitan where illegalactivityisexpected—suchas conserves policeresources.Insituations duces thechancesofconfrontationsand Sociological Quarterly. Force: Sociology’s ContributiontoRepressivePolice Tactics.” DC: U.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice. of theNationalCommissiononCampusUnrest. Crowd Control.” 122 121 120 July 17. defining testforLosAngelespolice” police/demonstrator interaction.” Police SergeantJosephCoxisto“minimize permitted gatheringsaccordingtoU.S.Park For boththeseagenciesthegoalforlarge Police DepartmentandtheU.S.ParkPolice. are usuallyhandledbytheMetropolitan tions ofstreettrafficratherthanundertake agement theyprefertotoleratesomedisrup- Following thedoctrineofnegotiatedman- tions withpeacefuldemonstrators. the SFPDtoavoidunnecessaryconfronta- Rabin, JeffreyL.2000.“Conventionprotests loomas Schweingruber, David.2000.“MobSociology andEscalated Cox, SergeantJosephR.1998.“Strategies forEffective Washington D.C.: The tacticsemployedbytheNYPDcon- San Francisco: The PoliceChief. Summer 41:3p.371-390. It iscommonpracticefor Large demonstrations June. p.29. Los AngelesTimes. 121 Washington, This re- 122 Protest Marches and Police Actions Around the World on February 15

Bucharest, Romania Santiago, Chile

the use of force. According to former SFPD and safe route to disperse. If possible, the Capt. Charles Breene: announcement should designate where demonstrators can relocate.124 When I speak of police tolerance, I do not mean police weakness. A professional law London: The Metropolitan police rarely enforcement officer is someone who makes make arrests even when demonstrators decisions that affect people’s lives. A caring are in the street illegally. According to police officer gets things done in the most ef- Waddington,125 “contingency planning typi- fective and efficient way. A police officer cally excludes the use of arrest in response to who always solves problems with force or mildly disruptive behavior that is neverthe- claims he ‘goes strictly by the book’ concern- less plainly illegal. Thus, officers are instruct- ing crowd control has the police department ed that if protestors stage a sit-down on the in constant turmoil, with officers defending highway, officers accompanying the march themselves in court and internal affairs.123 should encourage marchers to continue their march, and ‘sit-downers’ should be allowed One of the ways that the police in San to remain sitting down until they weary of Francisco attempt to reduce the necessity for the tactic and rejoin the march. The fact that force is through communication with the any such sit-down inevitably involves an ob- demonstration about alternative actions they struction of the highway is carefully ignored. can take. The SFPD’s crowd control policy Even when marches are held in clear viola- specifically requires that demonstrators who tion of the law, police prefer to accompany are breaking the law must be notified of the them rather than attempt to prevent the con- need to disperse and be given clear instruc- tinuation of the march by force.” tions about where they are to disperse to: Italy: According to sociologist Donatella Use a loud speaker system to assure that della Prota, “the most prevalent perception all have an opportunity to hear the order. If among the [Italian] police is that their pres- circumstances permit (absence of serious vi- ence is oriented primarily toward the defus- olence) the order shall be made repeatedly ing of a situation... Recourse to a repressive over a period of time and, if necessary, from intervention is, in general, considered to be a variety of location. Provide the crowd a failure in policing terms.”126 During with an adequate period of time and a clear peaceful demonstrations the Italian police T S E T O R P

123

Breene, Capt. Charles, Ret. 1992. Police Crowd Control: of Mass Demonstrations in Western Democracies. G N Risk Reduction Strategies for Law Enforcement. Boulder, CO: Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p.119. I T

126 S

Paladin Press. p.72 della Porta, Donatella. 1998, “Police Knowledge and E 124 R San Francisco Police Department. 1994. Crowd Control Protest Policing: Some Reflections on the Italian Case.” R Manual. City and County of San Francisco. p.12 In Donatella della Porta and Herbert Reiter, eds. Policing A 125 Waddington, 1998. “Controlling Protest in Contemporary Protest: The Control of Mass Demonstrations in Western Historical and Comparative Perspective,” In Donatella della Democracies. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Porta and Herbert Reiter, eds. Policing Protest: The Control p. 231. NYCLU / 27 Protest Marches and Police Actions Around the World on February 15

Bilbao, Spain Seoul, South Korea

work hard “to avoid ‘upsetting the balance large crowds, suggested the use of a com- of the situation’ and hence producing dis- plex system of barricades to create frozen turbances to the peace.” According to a se- zones and emergency lanes within large nior police executive, when confronting gatherings to insure ease of exit for partici- groups illegally blocking streets, “We try to pants and access by emergency personnel. plan alternate routes for the traffic...we thus try to avoid exactly what the protes- Since 1996 police have used this system to tors are aiming to do—that is paralyze the deal with both large and small demonstra- traffic”127 According to another police offi- tions. For small demonstrations, barricades cial, “generally, we find a way of mediat- are used to create a single demonstration ing; that is, by telling them, ‘OK, we won’t area that is segregated from both sidewalk intervene, if you’re here for a quarter of an and vehicular traffic, leaving one or two hour, we can tolerate the roadblock, but small openings for people to enter and exit more than that, I ask you no!”128 the demonstration. Police argue that this al- lows them to monitor the event and reduce Demonstration Pens disruption to pedestrian and vehicular traffic. For large demonstrations, it allows them to No other major city used barricades to minimize interference with cross town traffic, divide up demonstrators during either create emergency vehicle lanes, control the marches or rallies on the weekend of density of crowds, and give police easy ac- February 15. The NYPD’s policy of using cess to all parts of the demonstration. The these pens at permitted demonstrations emphasis is on minimizing community dis- emerged out of two separate events. The ruption and maximizing police control. first was a celebration at City Hall to com- memorate the winning of the World Series This policy makes it difficult to move by theYankees in 1996. During that event freely in and out of the demonstration and part of the crowd surged towards the stage it reduces the ability to circulate within the creating a potentially dangerous situation in demonstration area. The effect of this is to which anyone wishing to leave might have diminish several of the expressive aspects had difficulty doing so, raising the risk of of the right to assemble and express one’s injury, and making it difficult to remove views. The police assume that there are someone if they needed assistance. Similar only two expressive relationships at a large T S

E fears arose in relation to the annual New gathering that they need to protect. The T

O Year’s Eve celebrations in Times Square. first is the right of the crowd as a whole to R P

G Chief Alan Hoehl, who was the command- express its message to the public and gov- N I

T ing officer of Manhattan South, and one of ernment officials through its size, official S E

R the most experienced officers in handling speakers, and media coverage. The second R A

127 ibid. p. 233. NYCLU / 128 ibid. p. 234. 28 Protest Marches and Police Actions Around the World on February 15

Panama City, Panama New York City

Photo by Peter Holderness

is the ability of the march organizers to ex- events involve the complete closure of press their views to the crowd and the me- these avenues for periods of many hours. dia through official speakers on the stage. There are no emergency lanes or frozen These two kinds of expression are impor- zones, and barricades are used only to keep tant but hardly exhaustive of what ordi- cross town traffic from turning onto the narily occurs at a large demonstration. In closed avenue. These fairs bring together addition, individuals and organizations 1) tens of thousands of people at a time but use tables to distribute literature, collect for some reason the police feel no need to names for mailing lists, and have impromp- restrict them to metal pens in the interest tu discussions of political importance, 2) of public safety. Similarly, large sporting wear buttons, hold signs, and distribute events such as the New York Marathon in- leaflets expressing political views, 3) per- volve the closing of large avenues and ma- form theater, wear costumes, and display jor bridges for extended periods. Finally, puppets that send a political message to large cultural parades such as the Puerto passers by, 4) congregate with friends, fam- Rican, Israel, and St. Patrick’s Day parades ily, co-workers, or fellow members of polit- involve the closing of avenues and cross ical organizations, and 5) engage in one on streets for long periods of time with barri- one and small group dialogue about politi- cades being used only to separate the cal issues. The use of demonstration pens marchers from the observers and to divert directly interferes with the ability to con- traffic. In these cases even cross town duct each of these activities by limiting the pedestrian traffic is restricted. free flow of individuals within the demon- stration area. In addition, by refusing to One of the ways to reduce dramatically allow people to reenter a particular demon- the cost and logistical complexity of large stration area, people who need to eat, go rallies and marches is to eliminate the to the bathroom, or conduct other activi- widespread use of demonstration pens. ties outside the demonstration pen These pens have to be staffed by large are forced to abandon their friends, fami- numbers of officers and are frequent flash lies, and associates for the duration of points for confrontations between the po- the event. lice and demonstrators. No other major city on February 14-16 used a similar T S

In contrast to the use of barricades and crowd control strategy and yet other cities E T

demonstrations, many other large public were able to deal with crowds significantly O R P

gatherings are handled in a very different larger than New York’s without incident. G N I

manner. Every summer there are dozens of A review of press accounts and photos of T S E

public street fairs in Manhattan that occu- large stationary rallies in each of the cities R R

py large sections of major avenues. These listed below reveals no use of pens to di- A NYCLU /

29 Protest Marches and Police Actions Around the World on February 15

vide crowds. The cities with asterisks held tempted to make their way to the rally area. their rallies on streets or plazas. The others On Second and Third Avenues, people attempt- held their rallies in parks. ing to go to the rally were met with closed cross town sidewalks. These barriers caused Amsterdam* Melbourne* large groups to congregate to the extent that Athens* Montreal* eventually thousands of people spilled into Second, Third, and Lexington Avenues and nu- Berlin* San Francisco merous cross town streets. The police depart- Copenhagen* Seattle* ment’s response to this was to use force to clear Dublin* Sydney people out of the streets. Glasgow* Tel Aviv* Streets were cleared through the use of hel- London Toronto* meted officers and mounted officers who Los Angeles* Zagreb* pushed into crowds knocking over and injuring many. In several instances pepper spray was Madrid* used against people who moved too slowly. The use of pepper spray was so indiscriminate In these cities barricades were only used to that many people on sidewalks, or otherwise divert automobile traffic and protect sensitive complying with police orders were affected. locations such as embassies and government offices. Demonstrators were free to leave and Police failed to communicate adequately return to the demonstration, move about the with demonstrators in a variety of ways that demonstration area, and meet friends and intensified the crisis. First, police officers coworkers at designated locations within the throughout Midtown gave out inaccurate, ill rally. None of these was allowed by the NYPD, informed, or no information about how to which deployed thousands of officers to pre- get to the rally area. This caused confusion vent these reasonable activities. and irritation on the part of demonstrators and added to the congestion on sidewalks Use of Force and streets. Second, once police decided to clear streets they made only limited, inade- Great efforts should be made to avoid the quate, or no effort to tell demonstrators use of force by the police. Police use of force what they wanted them to do. Many demon- is an awesome state power that should be ex- strators were unaware that force was going ercised only as a last resort. On February 15 to be used until they saw horses charging there was a widespread use of batons, pepper them, and then had little sense of what they spray, and horses, against demonstrators were supposed to do, or where they were whose only alleged crime was peacefully supposed to go. This problem was exacerbat- standing or walking in a street. The police ed by individual officers who told demon- use of force on that day was not the result of strators to “go home,” when they were bad decisions by individual officers or com- instead attempting to gain entry to the rally. manders, but was the result of a series of po- lice policies that rely too heavily on force as This is in contrast to the approach taken a tool of first resort. by police departments all over the world that day. Large sections of London, Rome, The operational posture of the NYPD on Madrid, and Barcelona were closed to auto- February 15 was that demonstrators would not mobile traffic. In fact the primary police be allowed onto any street outside of the per- function in most cities was the facilitation of T S

E mitted demonstration area under any circum- traffic onto other streets. This made the T

O stances. This meant that all participants would demonstration safer for both demonstrators R P

G have to arrive via sidewalks, and even then, and motorists. In New York, police efforts to N I

T only as long as they did not interfere with oth- keep streets open in the face of massive num- S E

R er pedestrians. A decision to restrict access to bers of demonstrators resulted in dozens of R

A the demonstration to a small number of cross motorists becoming trapped inside impromp- streets at a time resulted in a series of bottle- tu marches. Some of these motorists were necks as large groups of demonstrators at- stuck for as much as an hour. NYCLU /

30 Protest Marches and Police Actions Around the World on February 15

Around the world use of force was ex- mander should ensure the warning is heard tremely limited. Tear gas was used in Athens and allow reasonable time for the unlawful in response to violent confrontations with crowd to disperse before taking further ac- demonstrators. In Colorado Springs tear gas tion if circumstances allow...[officers should] was used against demonstrators in the street identify the desired direction for the crowd as they were leaving the demonstration. In to disperse and tell them verbally...Unless an San Francisco police on horseback rode into emergency exists, allow reasonable time for a break away march after windows had been the crowd to disperse...Consider placing of- broken by demonstrators. In Los Angeles ficers at the rear of the crowd before issuing force was used to push about 200 break the order to disperse to ensure the warning away marches out of the street. [can] be heard by all.130

According to the “continuum of force” The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals principle, the use of force by police must be ruled in May, 2000 that the use of pepper proportionate to the threat to which the po- spray against nonviolent protesters who pose lice are responding. Police are required to use no threat to others may amount to an uncon- only the minimum amount of force necessary stitutional “unreasonable use of force.” in a given situation to affect arrests, and pre- (Headwaters Forest Defense v. County of vent injury and property loss. Force should Humboldt, 211 F.3d 1121 (9th Cir. 2000)). not be used against passive individuals and illegal conduct by itself is not grounds for the In sum, the experiences of other munici- use of force beyond that necessary to make palities on February 15 and the general prac- an arrest. People who are peacefully assem- tices of policing political events employed by bled in roadways should not be subjected to other cities and by New York City in connec- force that could cause extensive, serious, and tion with other parades and marches support permanent injury. the conclusion that, on February 15, the NYPD erred significantly in the way that it The San Francisco Police Department has addressed what should have been a purely a number of additional “use of force” regu- peaceful event in support of peace. ❖ lations for demonstrations that if followed by the NYPD on the February 15 would have assured a more peaceful event. San Francisco guidelines provide:

When the use of force is justified, the mini- mum degree of force necessary to accomplish an arrest or dispersal shall be employed. Officers are permitted to use reasonable and necessary force to protect themselves or others from bodily harm, but no more.

Horses shall not be used to move or dis- perse passive individuals who are sitting or lying down.129

The Seattle Police Department has a simi- lar policy limiting the use of force: T S E T

It is critical to provide ample warning to O R P

an unlawful crowd. The field incident com- G N I T S E

129 R San Francisco Police Department. 1994. Crowd Control R Manual. City and County of San Francisco. p.2 A 130 Seattle Police Department. Civil Disobedience, Crowd and Riot Situations Involving Unlawful Activity NYCLU /

31 32 NYCLU / ARRESTING PROTEST police officers) wasarecipefordisasterthat was communication (bothtoprotesters andtofellow streets leadingtoFirstAvenue, andthelack of closing ofSecondAvenue, itsclosingofcross place onthefarsideofManhattan, theNYPD’s The combinationofforcingthe eventtotake tempting togettherallyonFirstAvenue. arose fromtheobstaclespeopleencounteredat- on February15,thelargestproblemofday Protest Events 2. TheCityMustAssureFreeAccessto bers ofpeoplemayinfactbemoremanageable. certainly suggeststhatmarcheswithlargenum- place onMarch22withoutmeaningfulincident a rally, butthe hugeantiwarmarchthattook appear tohavearisenfromlimitingthatevent were therehugeproblemsonFebruary15that involves limitedaccesstotherallysite.Notonly than largestationaryrallies,particularlyonesthat commitment toprotestmarches. Patrick’s DayParade),itmustmakeasimilar dated hugeculturalparades(suchastheSt. in theCity. JustastheCitylonghasaccommo- have beenanimportant,time-honoredtradition groups marchinginthestreet,butsuchmarches fully recognizestheburdensposedbylarge date peacefulprotestmarches.TheNYCLU it mustmakeeverypossibleefforttoaccommo- must learnfromtheeventsofFebruary15that has sinceabandoneditsno-marchpolicy, it Though theCity, underintensepubliccriticism, portance ofmarchingasaformprotest. lost sightoftheconstitutionalandhistoricalim- marches, revealsthattheCityhadcompletely until shortlyafterthisevent)tobarallprotest NYPD policy(ineffectsincethefallof2002 with thefactthatthisdecisionreflectedan position onthisparticularmarch,combined February 15waswithoutprecedent.TheCity’s conducting anymarchanywhereintheCityon Protest Marches 1. TheCityMustRecognizetheImportanceof NYCLU Recommendations Beyond notpermittingamarchtotakeplace Marches may, infact, alsobeeasiertopolice The City’s decisiontopreventUPFJfrom licly distributed. informationalflyersthatcanbepub- preparing Department mightalsowant toconsider convey accurateandtimelyinformation. The restrictions onaccesssothat theyareableto accurate andup-to-dateinformation aboutany to anevent,andtheymustbeprovidedwith information abouthowpeoplecangainaccess by acrowd,theymustgiveclearandaccurate ed withamplifiedsoundsotheycanbeheard ments attheevent.Officersneedtobeprovid- event andclearconspicuousannounce- nouncements tothemediainadvanceof public. Thateffortshouldincludepublican- much betterefforttocommunicatethatthe demonstrations, theDepartmentmustmakea the NYPDintendstolimitaccesslarge Timely andAccurateManner—To theextent Must CommunicatethattothePublicina should dothefollowing: entirely predictable.Inthefuture,NYPD sands ofpeoplearrivingonfoot. warranted foreventsthatentailtensofthou- as possible,temporarystreetclosuresarefully wants tokeepvehiculartrafficflowingasmuch events. ThoughtheDepartmentunderstandably clear streetsorothermeansofaccessforlarge The NYPDmustmakeeveryreasonableeffortto of EntryforPeopleComingtoLargeEvents— events, shouldorganizersrequestthem. spaces (suchasCentralPark)availableforsuch effort tomakecentrallocationsorlargeopen gressed). TheCityshouldmakeeveryreasonable access byclosingcrossstreetsasthedaypro- west (withtheNYPDfurtherrestrictingwestern rally wasonlyaccessiblefromthenorthand Street, theNYPDcreatedasituationwhere event totakeplaceonFirstAvenue northof49th access islimited.ByforcingtheFebruary15 events shouldnotberelegatedtolocationswhere Freely AccessibleLocations—Largeprotest ● ● ● Events MustBeAllowedtoTake Placein The NYPDMustAssureAdequatePoints If AccessIstoBeLimited,theNYPD NYCLU Recommendations

3. The NYPD Should Not Use Force to Clear may congregate and press forward in such a Peaceably Assembled Demonstrators from Streets way as to pose a physical threat to other pro- and Sidewalks testers. While pens may sometimes be appro- One of the most alarming aspects of the priate for the safety of demonstrators, they February 15 was the NYPD’s use of physical should never be used simply to confine protest- force — in the form of horses, pepper spray, ba- ers or to restrict their mobility. tons, and arrests — to clear streets and sidewalks of demonstrators who were doing nothing more ● In those unusual situations in which pens than standing there, oftentimes for no reason are used, they should not be used to restrict the other than that they simply were trapped by the ability of individuals to move freely around the large crowds. In such circumstances — where protest area. In many instances, people need or peaceful demonstrators not committing acts of wish to leave a demonstration to get food or wa- civil disobedience are doing nothing more than ter, to use a bathroom, or simply to move to an- blocking vehicular or pedestrian traffic — the other area of the rally. While a person might be NYCLU believes that there is no justification for prevented from entering a pen that is completely the police to use physical force. full, people should not face the prospect of either spending the entire time in a pen or being force Rather, in such circumstances, the police to leave the event entirely (as happened on should attempt to manage the situation first by February 15). To the extent the police are con- rerouting traffic away from the area. The cerned that sidewalks remain clear, they can in- Department then should identify ways in which struct protesters who assemble them to move to people can safely and reasonably disperse and a pen or leave the area. then provide clear instructions to people about how to disperse or move to the event site. Only 5. The NYPD Must Revamp Its Processing after all reasonable efforts to clear sidewalks of Persons Arrested for Minor Offenses at and streets in this manner have proven unsuc- Demonstrations cessful and it is clear that people intentionally When the NYPD is planning for large-scale are attempting to block reasonable access demonstrations, it must be in a better position to should the police even consider making arrests. process people who are arrested for minor offens- The NYCLU believes that in no circumstances es. Regardless of the propriety of the arrests, should the NYPD use physical force to clear there is no excuse for demonstrators being held nonviolent demonstrators when the only prob- in tight handcuffs in dark, unheated vans for lem presented by the situation is the interrup- many hours without access to food, water, bath- tion of vehicular or pedestrian traffic. room facilities, and medical treatment. If arrests from large-scale events are to be processed at a 4. The NYPD Should Revise Its Policy single location (as happened on February 15 and and Practices Concerning the Use of “Pens” several other recent events), the NYPD must have at Demonstrations sufficient personnel available at that location to The NYPD’s use of metal barricades to cre- assure that people are processed and released in a ate pens on First Avenue at the February 15 reasonably timely fashion and must have ade- rally created many problems. The NYPD quate equipment in place (particularly, finger- should make the following revisions to its use printing machines that are in working order) to of pens at demonstrations: process large numbers of arrests. Arrestees must be read their rights and given meaningful access ● While it may be appropriate to erect barri- to counsel. No arrestee should be interrogated cades to shield assembled demonstrators from ve- without a lawyer and without a voluntary waiver, hicular traffic or other hazards or to shield and demonstrators should not be questioned T S

sensitive sites from large crowds, the NYPD about political or religious affiliations or beliefs E T should abandon its policy of routinely using bar- or about demonstration history. The Department O R P

ricades to create closed pens into which demon- also has needs to assess its use of plastic hand- G N I

strators are confined. cuffs (“flexcuffs”), as they are not designed to be T S E

used for extended periods of time and can cause R R

● The NYPD should create pens only in serious discomfort and actual injury if used in A those highly unusual circumstances in which it this manner. ❖ has specific reason to believe that large crowds NYCLU /

33 34 NYCLU / ARRESTING PROTEST to leaflet,march,asoftennecessary. liberty. We willdefendtherighttoprotest, NYCLU willstandwithallwhofor be donetosafeguardourbasicliberties.The and negotiatedbytheNYCLU. sponsored byUnitedforPeaceandJustice overwhelmingly peacefulantiwarmarch— cy, andonMarch22therewasahuge, tantly, theCityabandoneditsno-marchpoli- significantchanges.Mostimpor- prompted the mishandlingofantiwarrallyhas exercise theirfundamentalrighttoprotest. proudly tooktothestreetsofNewYork to misconduct, hundredsofthousandspeople endless barricadesandwidespreadpolice where intheCitythatday, anddespitethe grant apermitforanantiwarmarchany- spite theCity'sunprecedentedrefusalto ilous timeforcivilliberties.Nonetheless,de- City vividlydemonstratethattheseareper- Conclusion Nonetheless, importantworkremainsto The stormofpubliccriticismpromptedby The eventsofFebruary15inNewYork ❖ Photo byDevinAsch Special thankstoLiWah Lai,ourgraphicartist,whodonatedhertime toproducethisreport. Weiss, JonWolf, AmberZaino. Martinez, UdiOfer, CarmenSantiago,JaneSchatz,AnnaSchissel,DonShaffer, Tom Tyburski, Rebecca civil liberties:LaurelBenjamin,ClaudetteCosbert,Rebekah Diller, BethHaroules,DheviKhumar, Lloyd and theentireNYCstaffcontributedtothisreportcontribute everydaytoourongoingdefenseof and distributedover30,000KnowYour RightsFlyers andbuttons,testifiedbeforetheCityCouncil; Addams, RobertPerry, EricaGangsei,JulieEbenstein,LorenSiegelandElizabeth Bullockdeveloped Justice andnegotiatedwiththepolicedepartment;ourorganizers andlegislativestaffledbyDavid Christopher Dunn,ArthurEisenberg,andAlanSilver, wenttocourtonbehalfofUnitedforPeaceand tasks toprotectcivillibertiesonFebruary15andhelpedprepare thisreport.TheNYCLUteam,ledby Finally, thankstotheNYCLUBoardofDirectors,staffandmanyvolunteerswhotookonamultitude Carmen Petts;GaryRosenberg. Donna FieldandMichaelKraznoff;NancyHollanderKenSunshine;Lynn Lane;PeterGollon, and itsPresidentDennisRivera;Transport Workers Union Local100anditsPresident,RogerToussaint; Thanks alsotothosewhosefinancialandtechnicalsupportmadethisreportpossible:SEIULocal1199 permit fortheFebruary15demonstrationwasdenied. of whomjoinedtheNYCLUincallingforCouncilhearingsoncity'sprotestpolicywhenparade Borough PresidentC.Virginia Fields andNewYork StateSenateMinorityLeaderDavidPatterson,all Gale Brewer, BillDiBlasio,AlanGerson,MargaritaLopez,HiramMonseratte,andChristineQuinn, The NYCLUacknowledgestheleadershipofCouncilmemberBillPerkins,alongwithCouncilmembers to documenttheeventsofthatdayandaidinpreparationthisreport. and tothemanyphotographersfilmmakerswhogenerouslysharedtheirexpertiseresources of thousandspeopletoNewYork CityonFebruary15andbeyond.We aregratefultoIndymedia defending therighttoprotestandworkingtirelesslyorganizeapeacefulthatdrewhundreds We wouldalsoliketothankUnitedforPeaceandJustice,ledbyLeslieCagan,courageously to protectourfundamentalrightsintheseperiloustimes. voices embodythedemocraticidealswealltreasureanddeterminationcourageneed indictment ofNYPDpolicyandpracticeregardingtheFebruary15demonstration.Theircollective protest. Theiraccounts,manyofwhichareexcerptedhere,provideaneloquentandcompelling down andreporttotheNYCLUwhathappenedonFebruary15astheysoughtexercisetheirright The NewYork CivilLibertiesUnionwouldliketothankthe335peoplewhotooktimewrite ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 35 NYCLU / ARRESTING PROTEST

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