My Occupy LA Arrest, by Family Guy writer Patrick Meighan

[Riot]

One of those "dirty jobless hippies" - a famous screen writer - involved with the Occupy Movement

Tuesday, December 6, 2011
My Occupy LA Arrest, by Patrick Meighan

My name is Patrick Meighan, and I’m a husband, a father, a writer on the Fox animated sitcom “Family Guy”, and a member of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica.

I was arrested at about 1 a.m. Wednesday morning with 291 other people at Occupy LA. I was sitting in City Hall Park with a pillow, a blanket, and a copy of Thich Nhat Hanh’s “Being Peace” when 1,400 heavily-armed LAPD officers in paramilitary SWAT gear streamed in. I was in a group of about 50 peaceful protestors who sat Indian-style, arms interlocked, around a tent (the symbolic image of the Occupy movement). The LAPD officers encircled us, weapons drawn, while we chanted “We Are Peaceful” and “We Are Nonviolent” and “Join Us.”

As we sat there, encircled, a separate team of LAPD officers used knives to slice open every personal tent in the park. They forcibly removed anyone sleeping inside, and then yanked out and destroyed any personal property inside those tents, scattering the contents across the park. They then did the same with the communal property of the Occupy LA movement.

For example, I watched as the LAPD destroyed a pop-up canopy tent that, until that moment, had been serving as Occupy LA’s First Aid and Wellness tent, in which volunteer health professionals gave free medical care to absolutely anyone who requested it. As it happens, my family had personally contributed that exact canopy tent to Occupy LA, at a cost of several hundred of my family’s dollars.

As I watched, the LAPD sliced that canopy tent to shreds, broke the telescoping poles into pieces and scattered the detritus across the park.

Note that these were the objects described in subsequent mainstream press reports as “30 tons of garbage” that was “abandoned” by Occupy LA: personal property forcibly stolen from us, destroyed in front of our eyes and then left for maintenance workers to dispose of while we were sent to prison.

More about the arrest and imprisonment here:

http://myoccupylaarrest.blogspot.com/?mid=5490

"Then the LAPD officer would grab the protestor’s right foot and twist it all the way the other direction until the non-violent protestor, in incredible agony, would shriek in pain and unlink from his neighbor."

"It was horrible to watch, and apparently designed to terrorize the rest of us. At least I was sufficiently terrorized. "

"he LAPD chose to keep those peaceful, non-violent protesters in prison for two full days… the absolute legal maximum that the LAPD is allowed to detain someone on misdemeanor charges."

[Honu]

Originally Posted by Riot

More about the arrest and imprisonment here:

http://myoccupylaarrest.blogspot.com/?mid=5490

"Then the LAPD officer would grab the protestor’s right foot and twist it all the way the other direction until the non-violent protestor, in incredible agony, would shriek in pain and unlink from his neighbor."

"It was horrible to watch, and apparently designed to terrorize the rest of us. At least I was sufficiently terrorized. "

"he LAPD chose to keep those peaceful, non-violent protesters in prison for two full days… the absolute legal maximum that the LAPD is allowed to detain someone on misdemeanor charges."

They werent sent to prison and he failed to mention the fact that the protest impeded people from going to their jobs as they Occupied dowtown L.A. they also fail to mention that some buisness couldnt open and some couldnt recieve supplies. I thought L.A. handled the situation very well they told them when they had to leave and even after that they gave them additional time to get their crap and go. No sympathy from me. They knew the score and made their choice.

[dellinger63]

Reminds me of a story I once heard about a guy named 'Potato Salad' who got kicked out of a bar for wearing a hat.

The Family Guy should have invited everyone to his yard to sit in a circle and lock arms and the they still could be there.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Honu

They werent sent to prison

For a misdemeanor.

and he failed to mention the fact that the protest impeded people from going to their jobs as they Occupied dowtown L.A.

Really? People sitting outside city hall on the lawn at midnight, which is when the raid occurred, impeded people going to their jobs?

they also fail to mention that some buisness couldnt open and some couldnt recieve supplies.

Really? Which?

I thought L.A. handled the situation very well they told them when they had to leave and even after that they gave them additional time to get their crap and go. No sympathy from me. They knew the score and made their choice

No, that's not true: the police gave them no warning, they came out of City Hall, surround the protesters on the lawn, broke them into four separate sections, and would NOT let them leave with their stuff. See .. this was shown LIVE on multiple UStream feeds, and the press was there - and removed from the site so they couldn't film and observe directly.

Fourth Amendment matter to anyone?

They made the choice to not resist arrest for a misdemeanor - not moving when ordered to by a policeman. So do you consider being forced to kneel on cement for 7 hours, with your hands ziplocked behind your back, police brutality or not? How about vomiting repeatedly and passing out with zero police help while in custody? Do you think that should be legal in the United States of America? Or do you think a militarized, fascist police state is just what is needed in the USA right now?

I thought you guys were supposed to be big, basic, freedom-loving Conservative American patriots? Dell? As a self-professed Libertarian, you should be infuriated at this. But you are not. Why not?

So you guys think that peaceful legal protest with civil disobedience over a misdemeanor should result in nerve damage for a professional writer? And that's okay with you guys?

[dellinger63]

No worries. When they grow up they'll learn to listen to police or anyone with a gun for that matter. Riot weren't you just a few months ago pushing for Fed money to distributed so teachers, police and firemen could retain their jobs? Or was that then and now is now?

You should give Occupy that idea and come up with a sign saying "Support our Police" could give that dying Occupy movement the shot in the arm it needs.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by dellinger63

No worries. When they grow up they'll learn to listen to police or anyone with a gun for that matter.

So you think the police should be able to brutalize protesters? Violate their legal rights? Refuse to bail out those with bail in their hands? Do whatever the police wish? A facist police state is okay by you, as long as it's against a group of people or a sect or a religion you don't personally like?

Screw the Constitution, huh?

You're no libertarian.

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by Riot

I thought you guys were supposed to be big, basic, freedom-loving Conservative American patriots? Dell? As a self-professed Libertarian, you should be infuriated at this. But you are not. Why not?

So you guys think that peaceful legal protest with civil disobedience over a misdemeanor should result in nerve damage for a professional writer? And that's okay with you guys?

Plain and simple. Because he was told to move and didn't. If he felt his civil rights were violated than he should have gone home and prepared a lawsuit. Instead he acted like a child throwing a fit when told what to do and was laid down in the bed he made. BTW There's no way he kneeled on cement for 7hrs. You forget I'm catholic and familiar with kneeling and its limits.

Kneeling for 7hrs on concrete > holding your breath underwater for 7 minutes

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by Riot

So you think the police should be able to brutalize protesters? Violate their legal rights? Refuse to bail out those with bail in their hands? Do whatever the police wish? A facist police state is okay by you, as long as it's against a group of people or a sect or a religion you don't personally like?

Screw the Constitution, huh?

You're no libertarian.

I'm all for protesting, during day light hours, and not interfering with the general public. Especially the general public going and coming from work. The General Public, most 99%ers, who are ultimately paying for the unemployment and or social handouts of the downtrodden 99%. (Presuming none of the 1%ers are on food stamps or unemployment but you never know)

The protesters should ask themselves one question next time when setting up. Do the local laws allow overnight camping? If so, bingo that's the spot. For instance in Chicago, lower Wacker Dr. would be an ideal choice. Blocking bridges and roads are no nos. It's not really that hard to protest w/o problems. Maybe look to the Tea Partiers among the Occupy hoard for some guidance. They seemed to do it right the last time.

Also not that they'd want to but protesting specific events at specific times frees up a huge amount of time, as opposed to sitting in a park, and you can even maintain a job, if that's not too much of selling out for them.

While they sit in a park imagining they represent the 99%, they watch 90% of the 99 pass by on the way to work each weekday.

[Riot]

If he felt his civil rights were violated than he should have gone home and prepared a lawsuit. Instead he acted like a child throwing a fit when told what to do and was laid down in the bed he made.

What the hell are you talking about? What "fit" did he throw?

BTW There's no way he kneeled on cement for 7hrs. You forget I'm catholic and familiar with kneeling and its limits.

So you say that he, and the other Occupy people arrested that day that also said they had to kneel, are liars?

[Riot]

Originally Posted by dellinger63

While they sit in a park imagining they represent the 99%, they watch 90% of the 99 pass by on the way to work each weekday.

You mean like Patrick Meighan is unemployed?

You didn't even bother to read the article, I'll guess. You don't have to, when your mind is already made up.

At 9 a.m. we were finally taken from the pavement into the station to be processed. The charge was sitting in the park after the police said not to. It’s a misdemeanor. Almost always, for a misdemeanor, the police just give you a ticket and let you go. It costs you a couple hundred dollars. Apparently, that’s what happened with most every other misdemeanor arrest in LA that day.

With us Occupy LA protestors, however, they set bail at $5,000 and booked us into jail. Almost none of the protesters could afford to bail themselves out. I’m lucky and I could afford it, except the LAPD spent all day refusing to actually *accept* the bail they set. If you were an accused murderer or a rapist in LAPD custody that day, you could bail yourself right out and be back on the street, no problem. But if you were a nonviolent Occupy LA protestor with bail money in hand, you were held long into the following morning, with absolutely no access to a lawyer.

God help this country, when the Bush sheep say that police fascism and brutality are justified.

[Honu]

Originally Posted by Riot

For a misdemeanor.



Really? People sitting outside city hall on the lawn at midnight, which is when the raid occurred, impeded people going to their jobs?



Really? Which?


No, that's not true: the police gave them no warning, they came out of City Hall, surround the protesters on the lawn, broke them into four separate sections, and would NOT let them leave with their stuff. See .. this was shown LIVE on multiple UStream feeds, and the press was there - and removed from the site so they couldn't film and observe directly.

Fourth Amendment matter to anyone?

They made the choice to not resist arrest for a misdemeanor - not moving when ordered to by a policeman. So do you consider being forced to kneel on cement for 7 hours, with your hands ziplocked behind your back, police brutality or not? How about vomiting repeatedly and passing out with zero police help while in custody? Do you think that should be legal in the United States of America? Or do you think a militarized, fascist police state is just what is needed in the USA right now?

I thought you guys were supposed to be big, basic, freedom-loving Conservative American patriots? Dell? As a self-professed Libertarian, you should be infuriated at this. But you are not. Why not?

So you guys think that peaceful legal protest with civil disobedience over a misdemeanor should result in nerve damage for a professional writer? And that's okay with you guys?

Listen you werent here so you only know what you read. They Occupied 4 blocks of Fig. St which is the main 4 lane street thru L.A. running north and south there are multiple buisness's along that route. Fig. St. was not the only one closed the surrounding side streets were also closed so you do the math of how may buisness's were affected.
The L.A. P.D. did more than just than close down the streets for them they made sure their march was peacefull, they also warned the squaters who on purpose put tents up in the streets that if they put them up they would be arrested. Also the City of L.A. told them they had to move but there was another place they could go to continue their protesting. The freaking loser Mayor came out and told them on T.V. that they had to move, that they couldnt obstruct the City Hall lawn. I dont oppose anyone's right to protest as they like but when it directly affects the lives and buisness's of people going about their daily lives I have a problem with it.
Riot are you so blinded by your bleeding heart that you cant see?

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by Riot

So you say that he, and the other Occupy people arrested that day that also said they had to kneel, are liars?

For seven hours? Absolutely!!!

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Honu

Listen you werent here so you only know what you read.

Actually, no. I watched it happen live on multiple UStreams, with live comments from people there.

Were you there? I doubt it. Because the night of the arrests there was no march. The marched on the sidewalks around the city hall (which blocked no one). Police set up a perimeter and wouldn't anyone in (clearly visible from the news helicopters covering the story). So yeah, those businesses were affected: at midnight. But it wasn't due to the protesters. It was due to the police coming in. Coming in to make arrests over something they allowed for 2 months. In fact, the LA PD liason officer to Occupy, the officer that works with Occupy, at 10:30pm, was broadcast saying, "No, there will be no arrests tonight". Of course, the arrests came at midnight, so he was not lying.

But the validity of Occupy isn't what this thread is about. It is about what the police did to the protesters and how they treated them during and after the arrest process. What do you think about that?

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by Riot

What the hell are you talking about? What "fit" did he throw? ?

Sitting in a circle with arms interlocked singing is the adult version of a child laying down kicking and screaming or becoming limp and yelling LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by dellinger63

For seven hours? Absolutely!!!

Wow. You say Patrick Meighan is a liar. As is everyone else who has publicly written about what happened to them during their arrests that night (see the Occupy LA website and other blogs).

Then that is one hell of a conspiracy, where all those separate people - out of over 200 arrested - got together and lied exactly the same way, days later, about what happened to them. Amazing.

But I'm sure that's why you can so blithely dismiss witnesses claims - you believe in absurd conspiracy theories Like the FBI is trying to make butt pats in bar pickups defined as rape.

See, Dell, if you were remotely close to being the Libertarian and Constitutional patriot you claim to be, you'd realize that you can defend every single American's right to fair and legal due process, no matter if you personally like them, or not.

[SOREHOOF]

I hate Family Guy. Give me South Park, or even Beavis and Butthead. No thanks Family Guy. He should pick his friends more wisely. Just go party. He should just be glad he has the Constitution to protect his a$$. And quit trying to give the Govt. more power.

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by Riot

Wow. You say Patrick Meighan is a liar. As is everyone else who has publicly written about what happened to them during their arrests that night (see the Occupy LA website and other blogs).

Then that is one hell of a conspiracy, where all those separate people - out of over 200 arrested - got together and lied exactly the same way, days later, about what happened to them. Amazing.

But I'm sure that's why you can so blithely dismiss witnesses claims - you believe in absurd conspiracy theories Like the FBI is trying to make butt pats in bar pickups defined as rape.

See, Dell, if you were remotely close to being the Libertarian and Constitutional patriot you claim to be, you'd realize that you can defend every single American's right to fair and legal due process, no matter if you personally like them, or not.

Do yourself a favor and go outside and kneel on some concrete. See how many minutes not hours you last. Then tell me again how many kneeled for 7 hours?

[SOREHOOF]

Holy Sh!t. It ain't that big of a deal.

[Riot]

No police department in the USA should be allowed - for the lightest of misdemeanor offenses

- to delay booking prisoners for 7 hours, while they hold them kneeling on concrete.
- Refuse people access to their lawyers.
- Refuse access to bail bondsmen.
- Refuse, when arrestees have bail in hand, refuse to bail them out.
- Be allowed to jail some for the same offense, that they write tickets for and let others go, on the same day, because they want to "make an example" of some of them, but not of others.
- Keep people jailed for the maxium amount of time allowed by law, when those accused could have been discharged 24 hours earlier.
- destroy personal property belonging to the arrestee

Every American should be outraged at this. We have laws to protect our freedoms. It has nothing at all to do with if one supports Occupy or not.

Someone was angry about what Occupy is "costing towns". How about the multiple lawsuits against your town's police department, the civil suits for the police breaking the law? Should you not be concerned about that? You're paying for it.

This is America. Peaceful protest is legal. Whether you are Occupy, the Tea Party, or the Klu Klux Klan.

[Honu]

Originally Posted by SOREHOOF

I hate Family Guy. Give me South Park, or even Beavis and Butthead. No thanks Family Guy. He should pick his friends more wisely. Just go party. He should just be glad he has the Constitution to protect his a$$. And quit trying to give the Govt. more power.

Ding the fries are done.