Park Rangers Brutally Arrest Iraq War Veteran at Anti-Syria Bombing Demo

[xchrom]

http://www.nationofchange.org/park-rangers-brutally-arrest-iraq-war-vet-anti-syria-bombing-demo-1378387833

The US has yet to launch President Obama’s latest war crime of massively bombing Syria (a country that does not threaten this nation) and already federal police thugs, in this case National Parks Service Rangers, have violently arrested an Iraq War Veteran who was peacefully playing her banjo in the shade on Independence Mall in Philadelphia following an anti-war protest and march.

Emily Yates, an activist with the group Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), and a professional folksinger and banjo player, can be seen in this video, peacefully standing plucking her instrument when she is ordered to move by a group of Park Rangers. When she asks them (politely) why she has to move off of federal park property that is open to the public, she is not given any explanation. Then at one point, she is grabbed from behind roughly without warning and slammed, bent over, across the wooden top of a park bench, with several large rangers pinning her down, and with her hands wrenched behind her back, as they try to place metal cuffs on her wrists.

As she struggles to breathe with all that pressure on her forcibly bent-over form, a senior officer can be heard telling her to “relax” and to “stop resisting” -- though with three men piled on top of her, it is clear she is not resisting..

Yates was held in a federal lockup for two days before an arraignment on Monday, at which she was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and, most seriously, “assaulting a federal officer.” The latter charge, absurd when matched up against the video of the arrest, is a felony carrying a heavy jail sentence.

[Trillo]

1. With the alleged weight of 3 people piled on top of her,

if she were to "relax" and "stop resisting" it seems she would die of asphyxiation. While those words sound so reasonable, they may have been a verbal admission of murderous intent given the alleged context.

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. I'm surprised she didn't immediately die as is

She was merely a freedom-loving veteran peacefully plucking her harmless banjo in the calm shade of the very symbol of our precious, shining liberties, when suddenly and without provocation a darkening and vicious pack of slobbering pig-dog maniacs accosted her, wrenching her from her peaceful repose and sending her bent-double form into a spiraling chasm of pain. Certainly, she must be a super-human or - at the very least - possessed of the Great Peace Spirit That Connects Us All to have not immediately shriveled and died under the ruthless, brutal, and interminable assault of the menacing, sharp-clawed, evil-grinning fascist Park Rangers of Doom.

[jberryhill]

7. I hope she's not a lesbian

Her friends don't like teh gay.

4:03 "fuckin' Homo" 4:04 "Faggots!" 5:53 "Fucking Faggot"

[warrprayer]

42. I find the expletatives used

to be the very least obscene thing in this disgusting video. Away with you. *plonk*

[SidDithers]

67. Nailed it...

You could very easily write for nationofchange. You've captured the essence of the patter perfectly.



Sid

[An_enlightened_soul]

57. What a crock

There are enough legitimate cases of police excessive force to be concerned about. This lady was clearly in the wrong and was legally being arrested for trespassing. And the video clearly shows her resisting arrest. The force used by these fine officers is exemplary. They controlled the arrestee's arms and managed to handcuff her without apparent injury or significant force.

I imagine that arresting a resisting individual never looks pretty, but I think this case may be as close to text-book as we are likely to see.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

59. Spoken like a true brownshirt ...

and if you think I'm wrong, then you didn't watch the same video I did.

The lady broke no laws.

[KoKo]

2. Disgusting treatment.. and Park Rangers fgs!

[jberryhill]

5. It's spelled "fags"

And shouted at the following times:

4:03 "fuckin' Homo" 4:04 "Faggots!" 5:53 "Fucking Faggot"

[NuclearDem]

6. I think the poster meant "for gods sake"

[jberryhill]

9. Oh, okay

The park rangers are called "faggots" several times by these enlightened peaceful people, so it's hard to tell.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

60. It seems that this is the only thing you are alarmed about in the video.

Did you happen to notice a woman being assaulted by a bunch of jack-booted thugs? But yeah, someone said "fags," so let's focus on that for a moment.

Geez.

[jberryhill]

62. I'm not a good judge for an asshole pageant

Nor do I eagerly await the triumph of homophobic dickheads over the fascists.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

66. Nor do I.

I can separate the events unlike you.

[Autumn]

11. I didn't find a video at the link. Where are you getting that?

[pinboy3niner]

12. There's a hyperlink in 2nd para. nt

[Autumn]

15. Thanks.

[jberryhill]

16. From the YouTube video linked in the article

You must not be looking closely:

"Emily Yates, an activist with the group Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), and a professional folksinger and banjo player, can be seen in this video,"

click on the words "this video".

[Autumn]

20. Actually, I'm wearing an eye patch on my right eye

and really not seeing too well. But thanks for your very kind nice help.

[randome]

30. An eye patch? What are you trying to hide?

[hr][font color="blue"][center]You should never stop having childhood dreams.[/center][/font][hr]

[Autumn]

35. My eyeball

[jberryhill]

38. I thought maybe I missed "talk like a pirate" day!

[msanthrope]

21. Note how at :08 the Park Ranger asks her to leave because the park is closed? Stasi!!! nt

[jberryhill]

4. 4:03 "Fuckin' Homo" 4:04 "Faggots!" 5:53 "Fucking Faggot Pig"

Oh to have such people in charge.

[msanthrope]

17. There's a prior laugh riot of a thread on this dimwit...she was "disappeared" apparently

when her too-stoned friends couldn't figure out that she had been walked across the street to the federal pokey.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023576001

[Cali_Democrat]

22. Link?

I wanna see that thread

[msanthrope]

23. Here ya' go--it's rather amusing.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023576001

[Cali_Democrat]

27. Thank you. n/t

[JI7]

31. Miranda was disappeared also ?????????

[msanthrope]

32. And apparently, I scoffed. I think the strain "Hyperbole" is the latest smoke. nt

[NuclearDem]

8. Yay cops!

You're the best!

[warrant46]

13. You give someone who has a borderline low intelligence a badge

A nice black uniform, and who at one time was a school yard bully and basically a coward.

Give that person a taser and a gun.

Pal them up with others of the same persuasion.

Put a Flag patch on their shoulder,

And inculcate them with a notion that sub humans, communists, or anti christians of all kinds are enemies..

And then you have this out rage. They will kill you if they think they can get away with it. Ask Rodney King !! Oops he's dead already

[delta17]

39. Rodney King got drunk and drowned in his pool.

Not sure what the cops had to do with that.

[warrant46]

47. Nothing he was a bum

But before he died he played the part of a Pinata for the amusement and entertainment of the THUGS in the Los Angeles Police Department

[msanthrope]

18. The National Park Service? nt

[lpbk2713]

10. That "stop resisting" always gets me when I watch Cops on TV

Three gorillas in blue uniforms slam the detainee to the ground. One has each arm
while the third plants his knee in his kidney and all three are shouting "stop resisting" .
Ever wonder what happened to that cowardly bully in school? He's now a cop.

[msanthrope]

14. What a load of crap--Independence Park was closed. She wasn't arrested for 'Syria" but because she

was too stupid to go home after the park was closed. In the first 8 seconds of her arrest video, she's told that the park closed 15 minutes prior.

There was a prior laugh riot of a thread about this dimwit--one person claiming she had been "disappeared." No, the dumbass was walked across the street to the federal pokey and had to wait to see a magistrate.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023576001

[warrprayer]

44. so it's ok

to beat the crap out of an Iraq vet who posed absolutely no threat to those assholes? Sieg fucking heil. *plonk*

[msanthrope]

50. When did she get the crap beaten out of her? There's a video of her arrest...where was she

beaten?

[Sissyk]

61. Wait, msanthrope!

They can't answer you because they went "plonk". LMAO!

That childesh move always cracks me up..

[msanthrope]

51. I see from your transparency page that you have trouble arguing your point without

invective.

In your three months here, it seems that you have not learned the value of comity. 'Tis a pity.

[jberryhill]

53. You don't understand

If you have the moral high ground, a little misogyny and homophobia here and there helps others to understand the landscape of that moral high ground.

[JI7]

19. is this the video ? i can't find it at the link in the OP

[msanthrope]

25. Yes--note at :08 the Park Ranger points out the park is closed, asks her leave, and she decides to

be a dumbass.

[JI7]

24. what's with the anti gay insults ?

[msanthrope]

28. I'm betting that the OP didn't actually watch the video. nt

[xchrom]

34. The OP watched the video.

Name calling doesn't excuse the level of force the park rangers used.

[msanthrope]

36. I don't see what's wrong with the level of force they used. She was asked to leave--

she didn't. She was asked to remove her banjo--she didn't. She was asked to stop kicking, and stop resisting--she didn't.

She was non-compliant. Is she claiming injury? I've got to tell you that I don't envy the federal defender who ends up with this twit for a client....that arrest video just makes her look like a dumbass.

[jberryhill]

40. Watch her eyes when she turns around and looks at the bench

...and then she lunges for it to try to grab it.

She's scoping out that move at about 2:56.

[Eleanors38]

52. Just for the record, was their a parade/demonstration permit?

Was the park open for that day and time period only? Was it supposed to be closed at the end of that time, and was that closure for demonstrators only, or for everyone?

Perhaps an attorney can help out here. Please don't be hostile at my merely broaching these questions.

[jberryhill]

54. There seems to be a marked absence of anyone else in the bench and path area

...and the homophobic supporters seem to be on the other side of a barrier of some kind.

[struggle4progress]

55. PhillyNORML runs a regular "Smoke Down Prohibition" marijuana legalization smoke-in,

which seems often to be held at Independence Mall. Arrests seem to be common. There were 150 there Saturday. National Park rules require a permit for First Amendment gatherings of size 25 or more. According to the DOJ statement, the "Smoke Down Prohibition" rally was unpermitted. Emily Yates was scheduled to perform her hit "I'd rather be high (than be an asshole)" at the rally. Some video shows her "No Victim No Crime" placard, further indicating her relation to the "Smoke Down Prohibition" rally; see this post. According to the DOJ statement, an area of the park was set aside by "bicycle rack" fencing to process evidence associated with any arrests at the rally. You can see the rack in parts of the video posted upthread in #16: her audience is outside the fencing; she's inside.

I had thought earlier, based on mishearing of some video material and some inaccurate blog reporting -- her defense fund page, for example, originally said she was arrested in the evening, and some reports indicated she was arrested after the "Smoke Down Prohibition" rally -- that the arrest occurred when she refused to leave the park after closing time, but it actually seems that she had entered a temporarily restricted area in the afternoon just before the rally and that she was arrested for refusing to leave that area after being told repeatedly that she could not be at that particular place just then.

[jberryhill]

29. Because the "fucking homo" "faggots" arrested her

What's hard to understand about that?

[Supersedeas]

37. classy

[warrprayer]

43. the insults

are the least obscene thing in the video as far as I'm concerned. Seeing a vet who is peacefully exercising her 1st amendment rights getting the shit knocked out of her for no reason is. She presented absolutely no threat to those swine. Goodbye. *plonk*

[WillyT]

26. K & R !!!

[msanthrope]

33. You really should read the thread. nt

[4bucksagallon]

46. BS, she was resisting...............She had her 7 minutes of fame.

[struggle4progress]

48. Rangers say she kicked and spit on them.

Banjo Playing Emily Yates Arrested In Independence Park
By Victor Fiorillo
9/03/2013

... On Tuesday, the Department of Justice’s criminal complaint against Yates surfaced ...

On August 31, 2013, at approximately 3:25 p.m., NPS Ranger Eli Bowers, on duty and in uniform, approached a woman who was standing on federal property in Independence National Historical Park (“the Park”). The woman was standing in an area closed to the public inside the Park ... At that time, the area was fenced off with “bicycle rack” fencing and closed for emergency use by the NPS and Philadelphia law enforcement officers to process evidence seized, if any, at an unpermitted marijuana legalization rally that was to take place later that afternoon ...

When Ranger Bowers approached the woman who was standing in the closed area he asked her to leave the closed area. The woman refused to leave. Ranger Bowers repeated his request and the woman again refused to leave. Ranger Bowers then ordered the woman to leave the closed area and gave her one minute to comply with his order. The woman did not comply with his order and did not leave the closed area at the conclusion of the one minute.

Ranger Bowers and United States Fish and Wildlife Service Officer Derik Pinsonneault then took hold of the woman’s arms to escort her from the area. The woman actively resisted the officers by tensing her arms and fists and by trying to pull away. As Ranger Bowers attempted to place her in handcuffs, the woman leaned over a bench and began kicking Ranger Bowers and other officers who came to assist. The officers had to restrain each of her legs in order to control her. The officers eventually handcuffed the woman and carried her to a more secure area approximately ten yards away where officers checked her for weapons.

The woman continued to kick at officers and scratched NPS Ranger Layla Schade, who was trying to control the woman’s hands. Schade ordered the woman to stop scratching, and other officers ordered the woman to stop kicking. The woman responded to these orders with screams and expletives and she continued resisting. After an officer had checked her for weapons, officers carried the woman ten more yards to an NPS patrol car while she continued kicking at officers ...

http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2013/09/03/emily-yates-arrested-playing-banjo-independence-park/

[struggle4progress]

49. Smokedown Prohibition Leads To Arrest, Citations, Bad Vibes

... According to a press release, “Five citations for ‘possession of a controlled’ substance were issued. Emily Yates, a musician and anti-war activist, was scheduled to perform her song “I’d Rather Be High (Than an Asshole ...)” but she was arrested and jailed by Park Rangers before the rally began” ...

http://www.philebrity.com/2013/09/04/smokedown-prohibition-leads-to-arrest-citations-bad-vibes/

[gopiscrap]

56. Fucking cops they have been out of control for years

[Fantastic Anarchist]

58. Ahh, the usual "resisting arrest" charge ...

... when your bones don't sufficiently break when manhandled by a bunch of tiny-dicked-testosterone-filled-jack-booted fascists.

It's par for the course, really. One shouldn't really expect less.

If I were a judge, and I saw that charge listed among others, with this military police force, I'd instantly toss it out. Just because it's been used and abused by these assholes.

Fuck 'em.

[jberryhill]

63. Penis size is an important index of virtue

[Fantastic Anarchist]

65. It is with these pricks.

[jberryhill]

68. What I have found from long observation

Is that people whose hostility expresses itself through homophobic slurs or macho assertions about penises - ARE THE PROBLEM IN THIS WORLD.

These people going on about penises and faggots are simply warmongers without an army of their own yet.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

69. I have a problem with what they said ...

... but no one got hurt from their words.

You don't seem to understand the difference between slurs and assault.

I can be concerned about both, but I'm placing greater focus on the person who got hurt. You seem to care about just the slurs.

Priorities, baby, priorities.

And your simple backhanded insult didn't go unnoticed, however, it's not the focus of my exchange with you. A woman getting assaulted by thugs is my main concern at the moment.

[jberryhill]

70. "You don't seem to understand the difference between slurs and assault"

Same mindset.

If the hostile homophobic assholes had guns and badges, they'd be doing the same thing. This is not a clash of principles, just a difference of opinion about which set of violently-minded people should be in charge.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

71. What?

Now you're just stretching.

Violently minded? Really? What they said was homophobic and wrong, yes. Were they violent? No.

The violence occurred by the police against an unarmed woman, who by the way, according to the video, didn't make any slurs. You keep focusing on the red herring.

Extremely creepy that you ignore actual violence, and then focus on a couple of assholes making slurs - while calling them "violently-minded."

[jberryhill]

72. Hate is hate

She was in an area of the park which was closed, and she was asked politely over a long period of time. She is also not a very good actress.

Yes, people who hate are violently-minded. The people in that crowd sound just like the ones who have violently attacked members of my family and friends.

No, you don't get to play your banjo in a place which is not open to the public, and you can expect to be moved from that area if you remain in it. That's pretty basic.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

73. Why didn't the others get arrested then?

And she was manhandled, whether she was in violating the law or not, she was assaulted.

Not all people who make slurs are "violently minded." I'm a Jew and have been called everything under the sun. I don't consider some of those people "violently minded." Ignorant? Yes. Saying stuff doesn't make a person "violently minded" unless we live in your world, which I'm glad we don't.

Your intensity of focus on people using words vs people using physical harm is somewhat suspicious to me. I'm guessing you really don't care about either situation, but chose the lesser of two evils, as it were, to distract from a woman being assaulted by three men in uniforms.

Your obtuseness will not illicit another response from me. You're just baiting now.

[jberryhill]

74. Because they were on the other side of the fence from the closed area

There is nobody else in the area where she is refusing to leave.

When someone you love is beat up by people shouting homophobic insults, then get back to me with your "suspicions". I am sure that you, like those in the video, do not associate with "faggots".

[Fantastic Anarchist]

75. Nice crack ...

But I won't be baited.

[4Q2u2]

76. Hey we were High

And besides we are on your side so we can use obscenely offensive language to prove a point. Besides no one got hurt with our language.

What a cringe worthy video that was.
She was probably "person handled" harder than that in Boot Camp.
With friends like that who needs Cowards without Convictions. They sure had her back, right up to the point where it took guts to make a stand.(right or wrong) "Hey let the Crazy War Vet get arrested for our cause".

[1awake]

64. I can't believe I'm going to say this

but after watching the video a few times... I don't see any park rangers brutally arresting anyone. There was nothing brutal about it. And also... she did resist, multiple times.

Now if you want to talk about the charge(s), that's a different story. Assaulting a federal officer is BS unless she hit them etc. Yes, it can be used for spitting etc, but it shouldn't imo. From what I could see, she shouldn't be charged with a felony at all.