Greensboro Protest Saga Continues
Charla Duncan
Issue date: 2/14/06 Section: Campus News
| |
|
The flyer, which listed endorsers of the protest as the UNCG College Democrats, the World Can't Wait-Greensboro Chapter, the October 22 Coalition Against Police Brutality, and the UNCG College Libertarians, went on to say that none of the seven citizens arrested have been charged with violations related to the nature of the incident. Rather, according to endorsers, the seven protestors 'were charged with various misdemeanor crimes unrelated to the actual reason of their arrest.'
"The seven people were arrested after a confrontation with an officer from the special intelligence section," commented Patrick Tutwiler, President of the UNCG College Democrats and a top organizer of the protest. "We are asking that the charges be dropped because a lot of people here, a lot of people in general, have questions about the integrity of the special intelligence section…They have been less than honest with the public before and so we question the voracity about their statements about what happened [January 31]."
Tutwiler went on to speak of how the Greensboro Police Department's Special Intelligence division is being investigated by the F.B.I. about matters relating to the Black Book and racial profiling by officers.
Tutwiler added, "We do want to emphasize that this is not about the Greensboro Police Department as a whole. There are a lot of diverse groups here who have feelings toward the police station, but this is specifically about the Special Intelligence section…raising awareness about their activities, about the issue of domestic spying in general and how it's not just a national issue. On a local level, there are no checks and balances to make sure the spy organization is spying on the right people."
At a little before 5 pm, Ben Holmes, a freshman, political science major at UNCG and a member of the UNCG College Democrats, stood before the crowd to read a statement issued by his mother, Cynthia Holmes, a citizen candidate for NC's Fifth District.
"To the people of Greensboro, I tell you that you have nothing to fear from the gathering of your fellow citizens who met downtown for the [January 31] World Can't Wait State of the Union Protest and Rebuttal," wrote Holmes. "The people of Greensboro, indeed the country, have everything to fear from a government that has and is systematically stripping them of their constitutional rights and liberties…[that] holds itself above the law."
"Brothers and sisters, I am here because I support your right to oppose the President of the U.S. and all the decisions that he has made. Free speech is basic to our freedom," spoke Reverend Nelson Johnson of Faith Community Church, who is involved with the Faith and Reconciliation Commission of Greensboro and was the second scheduled speaker. "Whenever the instruments of government are turned against the people to promote repression, secrecy, intimidation, division and confusion, it is flying the banner of democracy and is carrying out acts of tyranny and we must oppose democratic tyranny…the future belongs to you."
A member of the World Can't Wait-Greensboro Chapter, Scott Trent, called the arrest a "horrendous violation of our civil and human rights" and went on to criticize the Bush administration for its detainment of people indefinitely without charges and legalizing torture.
"If we had gone to bed five years ago and woken up today…we'd be pretty shocked," stated Trent.
The seven young adults, who were arrested on January 31, were also present among rebuttal protestors. Two spokesmen from the seven, six males and one female, gave a brief account of what happened in their eyes that Tuesday night. Reiterating the disgust they had for the actions of the GPD, one of the 'Greensboro Seven' recounted the use of profanity and the drawing of guns by officers.
"That's not the GPD that we should be seeing right now," continued the spokesperson.
After the words delivered by the 'Greensboro Seven,' there was one more speech made from a citizen in the crowd.
The Cakalak Thunder Drum Corps was also present at the Rally for the Greensboro Seven, as well as many other news and media services. The protest held true to being a peaceful demonstration, receiving many honks from passer-bys. No one from the Greensboro Police Department was present at the time of the demonstration, nor were they available for comment at the time of this article.
