Bill McKibben & Other Anti-Tar Sands Pipeline Activists Arrested & Still in Jail

[amborin]

Tar Sands Activists: Are You Discouraged Yet?

By: Jane Hamsher Sunday August 21, 2011


Yesterday I was arrested along with Dan Choi, Bill McKibben and John Chandley (Scarecrow). I was released last night, but Dan, Bill and Scarecrow are all still in jail. They have been told they will remain there until we all go to court on Monday at 2pm.

The Tar Sands organizers were negotiating with park police for days in advance of the 2 week sit-in. They had been told repeatedly that they could expect that protesters would be given $100 tickets and released, because that’s their standard operating procedure. They repeated that to the organizers shortly before the sit-in started yesterday. And that is what normally happens — Dan Ellsberg was released after paying what amounts to a parking ticket after the last two White House protests he participated in, an anti-war protest in December 2010 and the other on behalf of Bradley Manning in March of this year.

But after we arrived at the Park Police station, we were immediately told that we would be held until Monday when the courts open, so we would be in jail for two nights. The same park police claimed that this was their standard operating procedure (it’s not).

All 65 of us were crammed into four 6 x 8 holding cells (we measured) with a toilet at the end. I was held with other women who took part in the demonstration. There were more men than women, so some of the men were held in the sally port because of the overcrowding. But that meant there were about 14 women in my room, with a few rotating out periodically for booking, making phone calls, etc...

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http://firedoglake.com/

[Dawson Leery]

1. Remember, state police were formed during the early 20th century.

to break up labor organization.

[villager]

2. "Henry, what are you doing in there?" "Ralph, what are *you* doing out there?"

That moment, I suspect, is coming for more and more of us....