From: Michael_E_Jackson-AT-brown.edu
Subject: Re: Re: AUT: Thousands of arrests everywhere
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 15:17:01 -0500




> No joke. For example, the "Timoney Three" are facing 20+ years for allegedly 
> hitting police commissioner Timoney (of Philadelphia) over the head with a 
> bike. 

And just to addend, we're talking a pretty strong "allegedly" in this case. To recap, Governor Tom Ridge ordered a massive crackdown to kiss ass at the Republican National Convention (apparently it worked, as they've rewarded him with a truly excellent fascism gig).  Cops had arrested 420 people, and 417 of them have had their cases thrown out of court. They'd been shoving and whacking people with their bikes, as it looks a little more ambiguous than billy-clubs in the media; anyone resisting was nabbed and charged with assaulting the assaulting officer. The state has put all its resources into these 3 police-commissioner-specific cases (his position of authority makes his perjury more palatable to jurors than the average Philly cops') in a mad attempt to get convictions and thus, retrospectively, justify the crackdown. 

I know this is old news to most people, but I think a lot of people outside the US don't understand the paranoid atmosphere at street actions here. (Conversely, this is why folks from the States were so delightedly surprised in Quebec City the other year.)

mj



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