After being assaulted three times on September 1, 2008 by police with chemical weaponry, for attempting to videotape the RNC protests, my poor mucous membranes could not take another front-line combat situation. The permitted, "Poor People's March" at Mears Park, sounded like a good opportunity to video history while not getting maced.
I arrived at approximately 2:00pm on September 2, 2008. The march was late in starting due to they park department not providing electricity for the sound stage. I photographed the massive amounts of police present, I videotaped the military helicopters circling the park, I took still photos of banners, I videotaped police with live-ammunition M-16's in a public park, and I videotaped the key note speakers of the event.
At approximately 5:50pm, I needed to use a restroom. I decided to leave the park and go to a restroom a couple of blocks away. I informed a member of Tempe, Arizona Independent Media that I was leaving, but would return. He said for me to hurry because the March would start soon. I took ten to fifteen steps away from the middle of the park towards Sibley and 5th. I had not left the park, when I heard a sort of grunting in unison, behind me.
I turned around to video when I realized that this was a large group of grunting riot cops. I did not realize that they were coming after me and it took my brain a couple of minutes to register this bizarre turn of events. I began to shout, "My name is Wendy Binion, I am Portland Independent Media, and I am not resisting arrest" over and over again. I was not read my rights or told of my charge.
I was transported in a regular-looking police vehicle to Ramsey County Sheriffs Department by one arresting officer. I announced that I reserved my right to remain silent. I was taken through a military checkpoint stationed between St. Paul Police Department and Ramsey Co. buildings. I was then driven to the basement garage of the Ramsey Co. facility. There, I was photographed by three separate agencies: St. Paul Police Dept.., FBI, and some other agency that did not have identifying badges or clothing.
I was removed of my media jacket, all my media equipment, my Debit Card, my ID, and an assortment of pens and ponytail holders. At this point, I still have no idea why I was being arrested. I was taken to a holding cell full of trash-food, napkins, empty lunch sacks. After waiting there for approx. fifteen minutes, I was taken to booking.
The police heckled me wherever I went in the Ramsey County facility. They told me that anarchists all smell because they are afraid of cops, that it was the smell of fear. They high-fived each other and shouted, "Yeah, we got another one!". I was told by one officer that I would be lucky if I ever saw my kid again.
Even though I reiterated that I reserved the right to remain silent until I had representation, they had a detective attempt to interview me. It was then that I found out that I was arrested for Felony Rioting. I was not given a phone call to contact my lawyer or Coldsnap Legal Collective. I remained in Ramsey Co. Women's Facility until approximately 9:45pm. Upon release, I was not given a future court date, any release paperwork, bail bonds paperwork, or any personal property listing of my media equipment or my Debit card. I was given my drivers license and hair tie back.
When I asked about paperwork and personal property, a sheriff gave me directions to get those questions answered. His physical directions led me right back to the military checkpoint. I did not think it a good idea to attempt to cross a military checkpoint to retrieve my belongings without a lawyer at 10:00pm.
When I returned to the place I was staying, I noticed quarter sized bruises on both wrists, each shoulder by the armpit, and finger prints on the back of my neck. I was told that my right for-arm may have a splinter fractured by a member of the Northstar Health Collective. I did not get it x-rayed, but I did wrap it for over a week.
Since my return, I have experienced nightmares of my arrest and I have difficulty sleeping. I shock easily and do not feel safe around any kind of police officer. I was told by the Minnesota District Attorney's office that I am still under investigation for criminal conspiracy to commit a riot, but that I have no formal charges. I received this false charge and subsequent arrest for having the audacity to video tape the Poor People's March during the Republican National Convention. I was told that this investigation can remain open for years.
This ongoing investigation is nothing less than the blatant attempt by local and national governments to disappear my camera and silence the voices of dissent. I am under investigation for conspiracy to document a momentous event and for suspicion of distribution of independent media to the masses. The images of police brutality and the institutionalized torture techniques the authorities used during the convention were not "spun".
Independent Media does not have to ask permission from editors, advertisers, or the Joint Information Council before we post raw videos or first-person accounts about police brutality. For those reasons, the powers that were, are, and wanted -to- be viewed my camera as a challenge to their authority. They treated all independent media as a dangerous threat to their "normalized fascism". They declared war on all non-corporate media.
I demand that they be held accountable in a court of law for their crimes against the constitutional rights of assembly and the press. They declared war against their own citizenry and the peoples' right to document their own history. I demand they be viewed and tried in a court of law as the war criminals that they are.
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