September 19, 2005
Mon Sep 19th, 2005 at 14:54:06 PDT
I
witnessed this with my own eyes. Here is my account. Other
accounts are popping up elsewhere on the blogosphere. For example, Here Here.
These other sources clarify that Cindy was rushed away and an
event organizer was arrested (things I couldn't see through the crowd).
I initially thought Cindy herself was arrested, that was the consensus
of the confused crowd, but that is not what happened.
Commenter histopresto has a great idea: "She's supposed to appear
at St. John the Divine tonight, so could somebody in the city report
back from that event?"
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.
The crowd erupted in booing and jeering. The crowd rushed the
elevated park where she once stood, not to fight but to witness what
was happening. People crowded the police, who had formed a
semi-circle around what was happening to Cindy (which I could not
witness from my vantage point).
"Nazis," "Gestapo," "free speech," "burn the constitution," "traitors,"
"you can't have her," could be heard from all sides of the angry crowd.
The police stood shoulder-to-shoulder with emotionless looks on
their faces. One woman from the tour, I did not see who, urged
everyone to that it is a waste of energy to yell at the police, we
can't stop it from happening, but what we can do is trumpet this event
to the rest of the United States.
Many media cameras were there. One New York Times (cameraless)
reporter was also there (at least), and she was moving around the crowd
asking questions. Upon the arrest, she inserted herself into the
middle of the screaming, recording it all with her mini-voice-recorder.
I'm not sure the details of the permit situation. The announcer
said they sought a permit for weeks with no response from the city
government.
Spread the word Kossaks! More as it unfolds.
UPDATE: Details prompted by comments There was no violence, no violent
rhetoric, and the spirit of the event was positive and strong. She was
only there for about 10 minutes before she spoke, and spoke for about 5
minutes. The crowd was respectful and peaceful. Cindy and the other
speakers were using a microphone and speakers, which may have caused
the problem with the permits. The announcer told the crowd that they
had been officially warned before Cindy got there. I'm trying to find
out the permit stuff right now. She was speaking at "Camp Casey NYC" in
Union Square. It was a planned event, advertised in the newspaper. And
from what I heard (Union Square is a noisy place), they tried to get a
permit but did not get a response from city government after many
messages were left. My view was not the best, so I did not see if it
was a cop behind her that jerked her away. The immediate booing and
rushing of the "stage" (a large part of the park raised by about 3
steps) made me believe it was the police. I could not see if she
resisted or not. Sorry for the bad view...I wish I had more. Watch the
wires, this will be out soon
