Lessons in dissent for the 21st century
by digby
Bag News Notes did what it does best and isolated the images in the Cecily McMillan Occupy case.
Look at the whole series. You'll find that it's almost impossible to conclude that she wasn't being grabbed from behind and reflexively reacting. Certainly there is more than a little bit of reasonable doubt. Now 9 of the 12 jurors are asking the judge for leniency. The law doesn't allow for them to be apprised in advance of the possible sentence and apparently they didn't realize that convicting someone of a felony is very serious and tends to carry jail time.
I guess what I can't get over is that this is the same woman we all saw having seizures on the ground while the NYPD stood around like a bunch of potted plants. I still find that shocking. That she is now convicted of a felony for hurting a cop is simply mind boggling.
Something terrible is happening in any culture when the only protesters who get any respect from authorities are those who are carrying deadly weapons. Cliven Bundy and his armed militia drew the local Sheriff on to a stage and publicly humiliated him and the sheriff nodded and took it. The authorities backed off. These unarmed and peaceful protesters were dreadfully manhandled by police and one of the most famous of them, a woman who suffered a seizure while in custody, is now facing 7 years in prison.
What lessons do you suppose are being drawn from these events? I don't know about you but I suspect they aren't exactly healthy ones.
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