Cindy Sheehan reportedly arrested in New York?

[Kevin Spidel]

http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=249

I witnessed this with my own eyes. Here is my account.

Cindy Sheehan was arrested moments ago in Union Square, Manhattan for allegedly speaking in the square without the proper permit.

A small group of police began to congregate around 2:00 on the south east corner of Union Square. Cindy and her peace entourage were slightly late to the event, contending with public transportation.

Upon her arrival, applause and cheers filled the crowd awaiting her speech. A few other members of the tour movement spoke. Afterward, about 2:50, Cindy began her speech. It was friendly and empowering. She was grateful for the support and urged everyone to go to Washington DC on the 24th of September for a march on Washington.

At the conclusion of her speech, from my perspective, a few loud and impassioned boos erupted, then I saw a hand come from behind Cindy and grab her shoulder-strap on her backpack. The arm jerked her backwards, with such force as to snap her head forward, and she fell from my view.

more at the above link...

[goclark]

1. So what happened!

[roguevalley]

12. god bless her. she's suffering like someone else that springs to

mind. she just doesn't bear her cross on her shoulders. poor, poor thing. I hope someone has info soon. I love her.

[daninthemoon]

2. So it begins...

[Old Mouse]

20. you got that right n/t

[understandinglife]

25. Watts, Bedford-Sty, 14th Street, Selma, Chicago, Kent State, .............

...... it's going to be a very hot winter in America 2005 .... unless some folk do some real leading instead of just giving speeches ....


Peace.

[saigon68]

50. DINOS like Limpmann (d) Conn

And whiny Biden (d) Del. Two of the biggest frauds on the planet.

[Hissyspit]

3. Thanks, Kevin...

Was it a set-up?

[The Witch]

4. another thread here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4820661&mesg_id=4820661

[friesianrider]

5. Thanks Kevin...can anyone confirm this? nt

nt

[librechik]

6. no confirmation from the wire services yet n/t

[brainshrub]

7. Okay, it's time to get to work.

Where is she now?

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. If this is for real she will be top news very soon

The arrest of a Gold Star mother won't fly too well, will it?

[Hissyspit]

9. She's competing with Rita. nt

[Vinca]

10. So much for being a Gold Star mom. This is awful if true. nt

[malaise]

11. Big big mistake

this will backfire.

[TheCowsCameHome]

13. You bet your sweet life it will backfire. Stay tuned.

[BlacknBlue in Red NC]

15. It'll be interesting to see if this shows up on the news anywhere...

[DrDebug]

21. Welcome Black and Blue

:cheers:

Serious part:

Don't count on it being reported and if it does, it'll be spun into a completely different account...

[BlacknBlue in Red NC]

39. Thanks, I think I'm going to like it here :)

[Mr_Spock]

19. It's like a free promotion!!!!!!!!!!!!

Either she was attacked by Freepers or arrested - either way it's gonna be a good promotion!!! WOOHOO!!

[proud patriot]

47. Yep

piss us off before the big protests this weekend

Smart

[0007]

14. This won't help junior any.....

[txindy]

16. The organizer may have been arrested, but probably not Cindy

That's according to a report in the comments section of a diary at the Daily Kos. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/19/154239/638

The police apparently targeted the organizer of this event for using amplification equipment without a permit, but they seemed to have waited until Cindy was speaking. Unless they INTENDED to make this arrest look bad, they made a boneheaded move. If they MEANT to do it this way, then my hat is off to them. They'll get lots of publicity for Cindy this way before the big DC rally on Saturday.

Adding: Here is the link in the diary referenced above. http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2005/09/57261.html

[Twist_U_Up]

17. News Link Here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1791737&mesg_id=1791737

[lpbk2713]

18. If she was accosted as roughly as that, and from behind ......

Someone needs to answer to charges of assault and battery.

[longship]

22. Arrested for exercising her First Amendment rights in a public park.

I would like to know who ordered this arrest. His or her name should be plastered all over the place in Manhattan along with the words "violates the First Amendment".

This is shameful and should result in an immediate injunction against whomever issued the order to arrest Cindy.

[janetle]

26. Rove must be very afraid

[tsuki]

36. Someone did not get Rove's memo: There is no peace movement. eom

[Trevelyan]

42. Everybody Media Blast so they can't say they didn't know

I hope Cindy is okay. Bad enough to be arrested but to be manhandled. I hope SOMEONE HAD A CAMERA.

The ACLU has on it's homepage that they are concentrating on First Amendment rights now. Let ACLU know, everybody!!!

[HootieMcBoob]

23. Fernando Ferrer needs to jump on this

Bloomberg has been Bush's butt-monkey for four years. The people of NYC deserve better.

If Ferrer doesn't speak up about this I will be very disappointed - I surely don't expect Betsy Gotbaum to say anything - but you can bet that Norman Siegel will be all over it. The Democrats of New York City made a piss poor choice when they voted to put her back on the ticket for public advocate. Siegel stood up for the demonstrators Bloomberg had arrested during the convention and Gotbaum didn't do a damn thing.

[cal04]

41. I just spoke to someone from Ferrer's campaign office and he gave

me this address to write him. He said he hadn't heard about Cindy but I told him that people are very upset and he should address this

[e-mail]

[usregimechange]

24. Let me atem, I'll splatem

[oasis]

27. Cops provoke violence in NY and then DC cops cancel activities Sept. 24

citing "public safety". This is the same "Blue Facism" at work that was common practice in the 60's.

[shadowknows69]

37. well i just bought $300 of camera accessories

So I'm not cancelling shit

[oasis]

40. Way to go.

:bounce:

[lady lib]

28. This has got to be the stupidest f*cking move ever.

Talk about galvanizing every fence sitter who wasn't sure if they would attend one of the 9/24 rallies...you couldn't have asked for more. Way to go!

[David Zephyr]

29. Zephyr: Emma Goldman was Arrested in Union Square 112 Years Ago

If true, Cindy Sheehan joins ranks with another great woman activist, Emma Goldman, who 112 years ago also in the summer there in Manhattan was arrested for her political activism.

Cindy, you are in the finest of historical company now! I salute you.

[dhinojosa]

30. Sorry, but, EVERYONE GETS ARRESTED for not having a permit....

I don't see how this works in anyone's favor. If you can give me an instance where someone who rallied without a permit and did not get arrested in NYC, I will change my tune.

[DLnyc]

31. Apparently, they APPLIED for a permit, but the city refused to give it.

They have used similar tactics before, usually under pressure from BushCo.

(on edit:)

Of course, later the issure is brought to court and the City always loses the case, But the damage has been done anyway.

[sui generis]

53. and in a blue state too . . .

at least they actually let her protest in Texas and didn't arrest her on some piddly cockamamie "permit" excuse.


Yee Haw!

:hide:

[Joey Liberal]

32. If true, it's a scary signal and we can't let it go.......... n.t

[haydukelives]

33. I hope Mike Malloy

talks about this tonight. I love it when he gets pissed off

[Garbo 2004]

34. Cindy not arrested per indymedia article linked to in this thread. n/t

[lala_rawraw]

35. Not True... just confirmed that she is not

Arrested or in jail.

[citizenmac]

38. Cindy, my hero

Cindy, you are my hero. I only wish the circumstances driving you hadn't happened. But we love you, listen to you, follow you and of course, support you.

[stlsaxman]

45. welcome, mac!

we love Cindy too!

[Voltaire99]

43. Next stop: Hillary Clinton's office

Cindy should encamp at warmonger Clinton's office until the senator is shamed into dropping support for the war.

If shame can work on one such as Clinton, of course...

[Botany]

44. Casey Sheehan aka Joe Hill

A funny version of the song "Joe Hill" kept running through my head.

I dreamed I saw Casey Sheehan last night
alive as you and me
Says I, "But Casey, you're two years dead,"
"I never died," says he, "I never died," says he.

"The oil bosses killed you my boy,
for greed and power they sent you to die"
"Takes more then greed to kill a man,"
Says Casey, "I didn't die," says Casey, "I didn't die."

And standing there as big as life
And smiling with his eyes
Casey, "What the forgot to kill
My mom went on to organize, she went on to organize."

"Casey Sheehan ain't dead," he said to me,
Casey Sheehan is now alive in all the people that I see.

From San Diego up to Maine
In every part of this land
Where people work for peace and our troops
It is there where I make my stand .......

Where people work for peace and our troops
It is there where I make my stand.

[Nothing Without Hope]

46. VILLAGE VOICE article - "NYPD Unplugs Cindy Sheehan"

http://villagevoice.com/news/0538,fergusonshee,67983,2.html

NYPD Unplugs Cindy Sheehan

City’s Finest pulls move even Bush wouldn’t have tried
by Sarah Ferguson
September 19th, 2005 5:54 PM

http://images.villagevoice.com.nyud.net:8090/issues/0538/ferguson.jpg

Caption: Cindy Sheehan speaking out in Union Square with Al Zappala, who also lost a son in Iraq - photo: Sarah Ferguson

Cindy Sheehan may be the Rosa Parks of the anti-war movement. But that didn't stop members of the New York Police Department from marching into the crowd of about 150 people gathered in Union Square Monday to hear her speak and yanking away the microphone.

(snip)

Police dragged away Paul Zulkowitz, a.k.a. Zool, an organizer with “Camp Casey NYC,” the small encampment that he and other activists set up a month ago in Union Square in solidarity with Sheehan’s vigil outside President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas. The New York branch existed much to the ire of the city’s Parks Department. Today, Zulkowitz was arrested for failing to obtain a sound permit—a charge that normally warrants no more than a summons.

Moments earlier, Zulkowitz had been chastising Parks officials for refusing to grant a permit to the encampment, and accusing the police of trying to harass the antiwar protest away. Contrasting the liberal Big Apple with the hostile environs Sheehan faced in Crawford, Zulkowitz told the crowd: "You would think that here in New York City, at Union Square—our Hyde Park—you would think that we would little difficulty having a 24-hour vigil to oppose the war. In fact, we've had two arrests and eight summonses and endless harassment from the police for doing what we do."

(snip)

Inspector Michael McEnroy, commander of the 13th Precinct, insisted the shutdown order had nothing to do with the content of Sheehan’s speech, but was instead about the "provocation" caused by Zulkowitz. “This has been going on for much longer than today,” McEnroy said, adding of Sheehan, “I don’t even know the woman.” That last part prompted one pissed-off onlooker to shoot back: “Haven’t you watched the news or read a paper in the last three months? ”

(snip)

[proud patriot]

48. thanks for the update NWH

:hi:

[Nothing Without Hope]

49. YVW, PP! That one went up 5 hours ago. Doesn't say Cindy was arrested,

just kept from speaking in a very rough way. Lala_RawRaw upthread also says Cindy herself was not arrested. From the VV article, only Paul Zulkowitz was arrested:

Today, Zulkowitz was arrested for failing to obtain a sound permit—a charge that normally warrants no more than a summons.

The heavy-handed treatment of Cindy and the arrest of Zulkowitz do have the appearance of police harassment to me, but we'll have to wait longer to find out what is really going on.

[Mister K]

51. NY Times Article

An antiwar speech by Cindy Sheehan, the mother of an American soldier killed in Iraq, was cut short yesterday after the organizer of the event was arrested and police officers confiscated his audio equipment.

The claps and cheers that had greeted Ms. Sheehan's arrival at the rally in Union Square quickly turned to furious chants of "Let her speak!" as officers ushered away the organizer, Paul Zulkowitz, who the police said lacked audio permits for the event.
Skip to next paragraph
James Estrin/The New York Times

Cindy Sheehan, whose son died in Iraq, was guided away from Union Square after a rally was cut short.

Angry activists followed officers as they led Mr. Zulkowitz away, waving their fists and shouting, "Shame, shame, shame." Ms. Sheehan, who was visiting New York on the last leg of a bus tour across the country, was nearing the end of her speech when the police officers arrested Mr. Zulkowitz. She was whisked to a car by two supporters just before the police officers seized the microphone. Mr. Zulkowitz was arrested because he did not have a permit, said the commanding officer of the 13th Precinct, Inspector Michael J. McEnroy.

Detective Kevin Czartoryski said Mr. Zulkowitz was charged with unauthorized use of a sound device and disorderly conduct, and was released after being given a court summons.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/20/nyregion/20sheehan.html

[Julius Civitatus]

52. Mayor Bloomberg has a problem with Free Speech

He used overwhelming (and inconstitutional) force to shut down the protests that took place during the Republican National Convention, and (illegally) arrested over one thousand protestors. Bloomberg was forced to release all the detainees without charges, because of his inconstitutional arrests.

At the time I thought Bloomberg did it because of the Republican Convention. I was wrong. Bloomberg definitely has a problem with Free Speech, and is quite happy to send the NY police to do Chimpy's dirty work.

[Stephanie]

54. I interviewed one of the organizers myself - here is what happened

Cindy was never arrested. See my thread below:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4823380

[SemperEadem]

55. Did she or did she not acquire the proper permits to speak?

That is going to be the issue the MSM and wing nuts are going to seize upon.

If she had the proper permits, then it's going to be on.

If she didn't bother to get them, then they're going to crucify her in the media.

Not only that, but they're going to pile on top of her because they're going to try to spin Katrina's aftermath as being more important to the country right now than her speaking out about her son's death. I just hope her people have got their talking points ready because it's about to get real ugly for her.