As Trial Winds Down, Prosecutors Press OWS Activist Cecily McMillan On Unrelated Misdemeanor Arrest

[hrmjustin]

Anna Merlan

After three weeks, the trial of Occupy Wall Street activist Cecily McMillan is nearly over, with McMillan herself taking the stand yesterday, April 29. Her testimony touched briefly on her educational background and her activism. On Wednesday, she's expected to discuss her version of what happened on March 17, 2012, when she's accused of assaulting a police officer, Grantley Bovell, during a demonstration at Zuccotti Park.

As the trial continues, two different versions of McMillan have emerged. Defense testimony depicts McMillan as a gentle, intelligent, non-violent activist who believed in working with the police and the government to make change. They say she elbowed Bovell after he grabbed her breast from behind, and that she didn't realize it was a police officer doing the grabbing. During the incident, they say, McMillan was thrown to the ground and beaten by Bovell and other officers, triggering a seizure. When a friend visited her in the hospital while she was in custody, she told him she feared her ribs were broken.

The prosecution, meanwhile, maintains that the 25-year-old McMillan is a committed cop-hater who makes a habit of fighting with the police, and that she faked her seizure in an attempt to get out of trouble. They've been trying hard to find a way to mention a second pending case against her, a misdemeanor in which she's charged with interfering with the arrest of a man and a woman who were being cited for fare evasion in the Union Square subway station. Yesterday, they succeeded.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2014/04/occupy_wall_street_cecily_mcmillan_grantley_bovell_martin_delcanizo_abril_chamorro.php

[CincyDem]

1. Nothing like a good old fashion ad hominem attack.

Obviously her claims of reflexively defending her personal space from some random groping must be false because she's a serial misdemeanorer. I hope they don't dig up the juicy stuff. I hear there's a rumor on TMZ that in 8th grade, she whispered to the person in the seat next to her after the teacher called for quiet. Imagine how that will destroy her credibility if the jury finds out.

[hrmjustin]

2. It is sad and maddening thry are using these tactics.