D17 Protester Charged With Felony

Submitted by Ruth Fowler on

Ruth Fowler's picture

Since the raid, arrests have been frequent, and the majority have been from protesting peacefully on public property which only days earlier had been accessible to all.

Last night, On December 17th, two protesters were plucked out from an OLA crowd hanging art and protest signs on the fence skirting City Hall, and arrested. One - Omar - was given a ticket and released after two hours. One was brutally beaten by the arresting officers, jailed, and this afternoon The Legal Committee found out that he has been charged with a felony and his bail set at $25,000. The man who was beaten and jailed - Steven Marcus Releford - is an African American in his twenties renowned for his calm, peaceful and controlled temperament. His arrest, documented by citizen journalists, was arbitrary, vicious and pointless. Omar, a man in his early twenties of Libyan descent, overheard officers concocting a story to justify Steven’s arrest on the grounds he was violent. Video evidence unequivocably refutes this absolutely. This indicates the kinds of corruption LAPD has instilled in their ranks. It is hard not to see Steven's arrest as racially motivated, given that he was one of the few African American males visible in the predominantly white and Hispanic crowd, and yet was one of the most peaceful participants in the art-hanging protest.

Steven was part of a crowd defending their right to free speech and holding a vigil for Bradley Manning, and a vigil for sex workers who have suffered from violence. Officers trying to prevent protesters from hanging their art and participating in the vigil refused to give their name and badge numbers - which is against penal code 830.10. Officers tried to obstruct citizen journalists from filming and questioned protesters’ right to observe, violating their First Amendment Rights under the Constitution. Protesters were told they were obstructing a public walkway under 647c - they were not: traffic on this sidewalk is minimal, and the only obstruction occurred by a police line. Penal code 647c does not give police or other authorities the power to regulate conduct in a public place or sidewalk, which is the basis upon which the LAPD have been citing this code - wrongly, in an effort to justify continual harassment of protesters and abuse.

Other arrests made that evening included six protesters - 5 female and one male - for trespassing into Solidarity Park, wearing orange Guantanamo jumpsuits in protest against the NDAA, and in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. These protesters expected to get arrested, and expressed their desire not to be bailed out before they did this action. Their bail has been set at $5k.

What we are seeing in Los Angeles and all across America, particularly with the passage of the NDAA, is a dizzy descent into the same kind of violent situation as Egypt.

Tags: 

18 Comments

This is insane. The

Submitted by invictus99 on

This is insane. The misconduct of the officers that I personally witnessed was sickening. I was recording their smirks and the refusal to identify themselves on several occasions. I am personally filing a complaint against Officer Navarro for smacking my camera down when I attempted to gain footage of Steven being arrested. Will the NLG or ACLU be working with us on this? I want to take this as far as it will go because of the gross violation of rights I witnessed and documented this night.

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism. -Howard Zinn

 

Mike Peake's picture

There was a NLG observer there, don't know if she saw what

Submitted by Mike Peake on

happened to Steve...saw her during the GA. Please know that California code 830.10 requires all officers to present their identification upon request. Also, that the recent Glik versus Boston says that we have the right to record police. Thank you for livestreaming, hope you feel better soon!

Also.

We all knew that police everywhere would continue to up the ante, to attempt to get us all to just stay home instead of protesting. They'll have to continue this course until it breaks apart as utterly ludicrous, until they get a mob of "I am Sparticus!" responses.

Stay peaceful. Maintain the higher moral ground at all costs. Do not be provoked into a reaction legitimizing their brutality, and demonizing the movement. This is what they want, this is all they want. Always give them a UC Davis situation, in which public outrage is fully against the police. Always be peaceful no matter how deeply injured, no matter how deeply provoked. And yes, it's easy for me to say because I have not yet been injured by police. I am willing to keep showing up, regardless! We're not staying home!

"Whatever you do, take one more step out of your comfort zone." Dorli Rainey

VIDEO LINK NOT WORKING

Submitted by Chadith on

hmmmm...I wonder why... youtube is under attack. as are our NATURAL RIGHTS

http://youtu.be/5UYAa_awBXw

The Constitution is the Supreme Law of this land, and was written by the Sovereign People for the Sovereign People and created a government intended to serve the Sovereign, namely, We, The People, pursuant to oaths taken by public officers and officials to uphold and support the Constitution, we openly discuss this egalitarian Masterpiece of humane law and Human Rights, and we welcome your comments and questions. Many people justifiably complain about wide-spread and extensive abuses by government and our courts against the People, but do little about it. Complaints remain as complaints until EFFECTIVE ACTION is taken to resolve the problems government creates.

We Must Be Our Own Voice. Don't Expect The Media To Televise The Revolution.

mspray1's picture

WTF?

Submitted by mspray1 on

Rodney King all over?, I thought we would have grown past this crap by now. Um   why are we going backwards?   By the way, ☮☮❤❤ from occupymn, forever.

mspray1

Jasen T Davis's picture

Steven Releford

Submitted by Jasen T Davis on

Steven was the very first person I interviewed for Occupy and I couldn't believe how mellow, brave and smart he is. I had hoped nothing would happen to him, and this is terrible.

I know it's not much, but I will get the word out as much as possible about him.

 

 

www.jasentdavis.com

Steven and others arrest

Submitted by bilal ali on

Here is a suggest re: Steven and wrong doing by LAPD that night.....Occupy the police commission tuesday at 10am.....during public comment tell them about the behaviour of these officers and file complaints with the commission...this is not just a reactionary response, but a pro-active one.


 


 

We need to get passed at GA

Submitted by lizsavage on

We need to get passed at GA tonight bail bond funds being used to release Steven. Many will be behind this, if they are not, they are not with us in my eyes, as Steven is non violent, and an all around awesome person.

We currently have over $8,000 https://www.wepay.com/donate/192938

$2,500 is doable in my eyes. I hop eyou all will come out to GA, find me, and get this on as a personal announcement.

I downloaded pattis vid, but does anyone have the link to the other one, from the opposite side? i saw it yesterday, and would like to download it as well as it shows Steven was not doing ANYTHING wrong.

We need to help him, he is our brother.


ALSO

We have multiple occurances of the following on video, I think we need to use this:

RESPONDING TO AN OFFICER
It is important in these cases that your response is loud enough for the video camera to pick up so it can be used as evidence.

1. They refuse to give you their name and badge number

Reply: California State Penal Code Section 830.10 states that all employed peace officers in the jurisdiction of the State of California must give proper identification by either their name or badge number to any California citizen inquiring.

Reference: 830.10. Any uniformed peace officer shall wear a badge, nameplate, or other device which bears clearly on its face the identification number or name of the officer.




I am

My words represent myself and not Occupy Los Angeles. @lizsavage on Twitter

I think this is something I

Submitted by invictus99 on

I think this is something I am going to memorize and say often. I asked several times in my footage for the officer's name and badge number and it was refused on more than one occasion. Thanks for this!

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism. -Howard Zinn

 

bluesbeans's picture

Video of Steven Releford's Arrest from opposite angle

Submitted by bluesbeans on

I believe this is the opposite angle of Steven Releford's arrest when compared to the earlier You Tube clip at the top of this page.  This video was taken by Citizen Journalist Sky Adams and livestreamed on Ustream under his channel name of "CrossXBones Coverage of OccupyLA."  You can see the clip here:  http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/19216364

LAPD officers have Steven on the ground by the fence for the first part of the clip.  Then about 1 min. 20 secs. in, you can see Steven being led to the police car.

Around 8pm Sunday night, a group of Occupiers were able to post bail for Steven to get out of jail.  No word yet as to when he was finally released.

bluesbeans

Skyler's Mom

D17 PROTESTER CHARGED WITH FELONY

Submitted by thepunk8 on

It makes me so sick to my stomach to read about innocent people getting arrested who are just trying to make a change in this world. The corruption in the LAPD is despicable and $25,000 for bail? The LAPD should be more focused on captuing the real criminals....What has this world come to? I really hope that people can help Steven get through this  and file a lawsuit againit the "officers" who wrongly arrested him and the other protestors. 

Police brutality video montage

Submitted by chris310 on

With all the police assaults on occupiers caught on video, we should collect them and make a small video/documentary and get this out to the public. Nothing fancy, just a video collection to raise awareness of how brutal the LAPD are. I was at City Hall on the nights of the announced raid and actual raid night and it was disgusting. And the LAPD's actions since then have been disgusting as well. Little isolated clips here and there are great, but as a whole really paint a picture of a department that has been given orders to assault people. I can get this to a PR friend in Hollywood who supports the Occupation as well. I can help with writing it too.

Jeremy Scott Shoes

Submitted by keke6612 on

Recumbent exercise bikes tend to be better in terms of your own spine .. Hunching over a standing bicycle may cause a brisk backside, which will not be any be anxious with regard to a recumbent bicycle, which promotes good healthy posture. Disloyal through place when you pedal is additionally impossible by using recumbent motorcycles. A nice selection of exercise professionals may state that the place of one's body whenever doing a recumbent bicycle training may minimize your own exercising, nonetheless Maillot Cyclisme 2013 the idea makes certain you regarding a reduced amount of stress on your legs in addition to ankles, making these folks injury-free areas. People with knee wounds will find a recumbent bicycle any refreshing choice, since despite the fact that it may might seem who's encourages any sluggish training, it is certainly better to use through these folks. f retains any check more than your own sex perform among the male, in addition to maintaining that dense bone in your body and also the muscle density. So men by using lower androgenic hormone or testosterone can certainly generate a couple of medical defects within. This specific content will help you to receive organic way of enhancing that androgenic hormone or testosterone in your body. Putting to use any in the guiding techniques can be a benefit for you to get from that Low T within youThe very first indication that your glycogen shops tend to be managing lower is actually that you will will obtain shaky. Nonetheless, if you're on the bicycle, you almost certainly won't notice unless you prevent. Cost-free indication is that lactic acid solution will build up within your thighs, even if you aren’t pushing by yourself very hard. Once you learn how rapid you normally routine along a particular component to your own route, so you notice your thighs tend to be burning up hoping to keep up which velocity, you are more
Maillot Cyclisme compared to very likely proceeding to hit that wall membrane. Throughout a journey you need to have together uncomplicated and intricate suscrose. Cereal in addition to power watering holes tend to be excellent for this, if possible versions by using lots of oats, berry in addition to nuts within these folks. An individual within my membership used to retain several boiled carrots in their hat pants pocket! (Whatever succeeds for you is actually good! )#)If you don’t have during a journey, as well as biking training session, your own glycogen shops will sooner or later run out, and you may hit that wall/bonk/knock. When you have experienced this specific happen to you before, you will know it’s a very uncomfortable encounter. When you are in the competition and this occurs, you’re executed, you can more than likely have got to shift out, and possess any slow, uneasy vacation dwelling.

 

keke6612 yhaa yhad

Pages