And then I was Arrested Again: One Activists Struggle for the 1st Ammendment —by Max Obuszewski

“A strong case has been made for the thesis that in the course of the past hundred years urban police have served as the protective arm of the economic and political interests of the capitalist system.”
—Frank Donner, Protectors of Privilege: Red Squads and Police Repression in Urban America (1992)

As a long-time activist, I’ve had many encounters with the police. Sometimes these encounters have resulted in arrests, more often in extended arguments about the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

My rap sheet is extensive, as I have been taken into custody in the following places: Andrews Air Force Base, Anne Arundel and Howard Counties in Maryland; Baltimore City and County; Erie, Pennsylvania; Erie County, New York; Fairfax County, Virginia; Fort Benning, Georgia; King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; Lusaka, Zambia; New York City; the Pentagon; and Washington, DC. I do not engage in civil disobedience, but rather civil resistance. I do not break unjust laws, but risk arrest to call attention to the government’s violation of national and international statutes.

I was most recently arrested on September 20, 2007, when I joined thirty-three other peace activists in a die-in in the Crypt of the US Capitol. We were using our bodies in a theatrical fashion to call for an end to funding of the illegal Iraq War. It is unlikely, though, that the legislators will heed our call, as further funding of the war seems inevitable. But I had to act because I cannot accept a bipartisan government policy that has resulted in the deaths of possibly one million Iraqis.

The Capitol Police were quite professional during our arrest, though some arrestees endured some extremely tight plastic cuffs for about an hour. We were processed within six hours, and a few demonstrators wanted to thank the police. I spoke out against the notion, reminding everyone that Rev. Lennox Yearwood was beaten up by six members of the Capitol Police on September 10.

On that day, I joined the protest outside the Cannon House Office Building. Other protesters including Rev. Yearwood were inside hoping to gain access to the hearing at which Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the multinational forces in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, US Ambassador to Baghdad, were to assess the “surge” of an additional 30,000 troops sent to Iraq.

The Rev. Yearwood was denied entry into the hearing room, and when he questioned the police he was beaten. It appears to be standard police practice to charge the victim with assault after beating the person. While Yearwood was charged with assaulting a police officer, the charge was dismissed on September 30. Since the police assault was videotaped, prosecutors probably did not want to take such a bogus case to trial.

However, the Reverend still has to contend with a charge of disorderly conduct, despite the fact he was simply standing in line waiting his turn to enter the hearing room. Such situations are a reality for those of us who challenge the police and demand our First Amendment rights.

On January 26, 1991, I was arrested on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House, while protesting the upcoming invasion of Iraq by the senior Bush. I deliberately went limp, and the Metropolitan Police tried to coerce me into walking. Eventually, they carried me and tossed me in the van. A particularly brutal officer came into the van and tried to kick me in the groin. He then tied a plastic cuff around one of my ankles cutting off circulation. By the time we reached the station, that leg was numb. Nevertheless, he dragged me out and forced me to hop one-legged. Once inside, though, another officer came over and cut off the plastic tie and said, “We are not all like him.” I did file a complaint with the review board, but it was ignored.

I have four pending legal cases. Besides the arrest in the Capitol Crypt, for which I am facing a disorderly conduct charge, I am dealing with a contempt conviction. This resulted from my refusal to pay a $50 fine after the chief judge of the DC Superior Court convicted me of crossing a police line. Since I am facing incarceration, there is an ongoing legal discussion as to whether there will be another trial before another judge.

That conviction for crossing a police line is on appeal. On September 26, 2006, twenty peace activists tried to carry a symbolic coffin to the steps of the US Capitol. The police stopped us. So on appeal, I will argue my First Amendment rights were violated.

I was also convicted in US District Court in DC, after placing the names of the dead from the Iraq War on the White House fence on September 26, 2005. That conviction is being appealed on several grounds. Most importantly, four of us are raising the issue of guilt by association. There were 371 arrests that day. So the US Park Police would have difficulty in providing testimony as to what individual defendants actually did.

During a series of trials, the prosecutors would bring to the stand Park Police officers who were designated as arresting officers. They might be responsible for 70 defendants. Moreover, these officers were not the ones who actually arrested anyone.

On the witness stand, the officer would testify that particular defendants were arrested. In criminal trials, though, the prosecution must provide evidence as to what individual defendants did before arrest. However, in the protest cases in DC, judges have accepted the argument that since a defendant was arrested, she or he is guilty. I am of the opinion that the government must introduce evidence of individual guilt, and this will be raised on appeal.

The US government has insisted that because of 9/11 and the subsequent “War on Terror,” it was necessary to shred the Bill of Rights to protect the homeland. This “unique” situation “forced” legislators from both political parties to endorse the repressive nature of the Bush–Cheney administration.

But Frank Donner, in his Protectors of Privilege, illuminates the fact that there is a 100-year history of repressive behavior by both big-city police departments and federal agencies. He gives evidence of how deeply rooted red squads are in US society. These may retrench for a period of time before roaring back and using unsavory tactics against dissident organizations, most of whom are engaged in “Constitutionally protected” behavior.

While Donner concentrates his research on large urban areas, he has a chapter entitled “Political Surveillance in Second-Tier Cities.” In that chapter, he writes about Baltimore under the boot heel of Police Commissioner Donald Pomerleau. Baltimore’s red squad was formed on July 1, 1966 when he was appointed commissioner, and it was formally known as the intelligence section of the Inspectional Services Division (ISD).

Pomerlau’s reign continued through several mayors until 1982. During his time, the ISD mounted an enormous surveillance project directed at the American Friends Service Committee, American Civil Liberties Union, the Black Panther Party and more than 100 other groups. Also active in Baltimore at the time was the notorious John Rees, who was an informer for the police and the FBI. Today, as the head of the Maldon Institute, he is still funneling information on “subversives” to city, state and federal agencies. (See http://www.publiceye.org/liberty/Maldon.html on line.—Ed.)

Long after Pomerlau’s demise, surveillance of dissidents in Baltimore continues. Specific details will be provided once an investigation is concluded.

The US Constitution is but a piece of paper on display at the National Archives. Constitutional protections are only safeguarded when enough citizens get into the streets and demand their rights. The best way to honor the First Amendment is for “the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Max Obuszewski, a member of the Pledge of Resistance–Baltimore. To get involved in related dissident activities, contact him at mobuszewski@verizon.net.