Today, I sat in the rain linking arms with other protesters I didn't know, soaked and freezing and trying to control my sobbing as I watched two police officers drag Pete into a closed off area and throw him, unconscious, onto the ground. They unceremoniously flipped him onto his face and left him lying there as those of us sitting in the open area screamed for a medic. They finally responded to our calls by finding a medic, who quickly checked to see if Pete was breathing, pronounced him alive and walked away. He was then handcuffed, shoved to his feet and carried away.
Today I went to McPherson square to show my support of the movement and to stand in solidarity with the people living there as police tore down their tents. In return, I was greeted by violence. Officers forced people back off the sidewalks and out of the park with their riot shields. When one officer lost his temper, he opened up the police barrier and dove forward towards one protester who was yelling too loudly and asking too many questions. As a result, I was part of a crowd of people who were pushed back by their shields and jabbed with batons. When I was pushed backwards and hit in the hand with a baton, an officer knocked the phone from my hand that I was videotaping with. He continued pushing forwards and shoving people, including myself, who had already dispersed from the area of conflict until a fellow officer came forward and stopped him.
Police repeatedly told Occupiers that if their tents met with the compliance guidelines, they would be left up. They then violated their own word, tearing down tents indiscriminately. They promised my friends a police escort out of the park when violence broke out, and then left them on their own as they were forced out by other officers' riot shields. They told us we could relocate to the east side of the park, and then blockaded us with police horses when we tried to hold a meeting in the area that was supposedly "open." The entire park remained closed.
Today, I saw things that I never thought I would see. An unconscious officer was carried out of the park by his fellow officers. Special operations, park police, and the metro police all joined together in taking control of the park. As I sat with 14 other individuals on the ground, linking arms in solidarity, the protesters standing around us were beaten backwards with riot shields and batons. One man tripped and fell onto us as he was forced backwards, and then was held down on top of us by an officer with a riot shield, even as that officer shouted for him to back up. As the crowd was forced backwards, my friends (because they are all my friends, even those who I did not know) and I listened to the angry shouting and terrified screaming of people being pushed and beaten. My friend and I had to hold down another friend as she tried to jump up and join in the crowd, desperate to find one of her friends who had been forced into the crowd. We were threatened with arrest for sitting peacefully on the ground in a public park as violence broke out around us.
The things I saw today will stay with me forever. My friend described it best when she said that the events we saw today could not be described. I do not trust my ability to communicate the desolation, hopelessness and helplessness that I felt as I watched people I have come to know and love, armed with nothing but their bandannas and their beliefs, face down police officers armed with batons, shields, mace, rubber bullets and terrifying violence. I cannot describe the fear I felt as I sat on the wet sidewalk, hearing a woman scream, as police officers on horses pushed into the crowd. Today I saw the trust that I have always placed in police officers get violated over and over again. I watched as the people who I trust to protect me violated the rights of us all. I saw images of violence that will never leave my mind.
Today is why I Occupy. Today, I sat in a crowd of people who have loved and accepted me from the first second I stepped into McPherson square a couple months ago. I Occupy for them. I Occupy for me. I Occupy for the police officers who violated us all. I Occupy for all the police officers who remained non-violent and did their job in a controlled, respectful manner. I Occupy for every citizen of the United States who wishes that things could be different. I Occupy for every person who exercises their right to peacefully assemble and protest, who recognizes that corporations are not people, who hates police brutality, who loves this country and is willing to fight to make it better. I Occupy for everyone. I Occupy because I love this country with all of my heart and I want to see it live up to the potential that I know it holds to be more equal, and more compassionate, and less concerned with personal gain.
Tonight I sleep in a warm bed in a safe, dry apartment on the campus of one of the most expensive universities in the nation. But my heart is in the streets, with my friends and fellows who have no warm bed to go to, because they have given it up in order to try and change this country. My heart is with my friends who never had a home to begin with.
In the face of brutality, I stand with the Occupation of this nation's capitol, and swear to continue fighting for a freer tomorrow for us all.
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