The People's Strike - Sept 2002 - Statement in Response to the Mass Arrests of September 27
We are extremely disheartened by the violence which was perpetrated today by the police. Hundreds of people were arrested for doing nothing more than expressing their political beliefs using legal, nonviolent forms of protest and civil disobedience. Protesters and onlookers were shoved, beaten, and pepper sprayed by the police, who seemed determined to prove their "control" of the situation by hurting innocent people.
The police claim that they were only protecting the people of this city, but the protesters who came out today were not violent, and there was no reason to believe that they would be. The actions which were planned for this morning were certainly not designed to harm anyone, but merely to bring people's attention to problems like poverty, racism, sexism, and environmental destruction, all of which are caused by global capitalism.
The vast majority of today's protesters were acting in the tradition of civil disobedience which this country was founded on, from the Boston Tea Party to Martin Luther King Jr.
But in the past year, our freedom to dissent has been taken away. People who disagree with the government are preemptively arrested, and kept from expressing their opinions. The police and other law enforcement agencies are capitalizing on the country's fears by associating our legitimate political speech with terrorist acts that we wholeheartedly denounce.
Police Chief Ramsey has said that today's mass arrests were justified because of the "mayhem" committed by a small number of people.
But the police didn't just arrest protestors. They also arrested journalists who were there to document our message. They arrested legal workers who were there to protect our rights. They arrested medics who were there to help people who were injured. And they arrested people who lived and worked in the neighborhood, who had just stopped to see what was going on.
We are outraged at the way the people of this city were treated today and every day. From mass arrests of people at protests, to illegal evictions and the closing of DC General Hospital, this city's government and its police force have demonstrated that they are not concerned about the well-being of people who live in DC.
We cannot let our freedom to dissent be taken away, and we will not stop speaking out until we live in a world where everyone is free from exploitation and oppression.
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