Serve and protect indeed. Police in Rhode Island attacked a peaceful union march yesterday. In the process, they badly injured one of the marchers. Details below. Please call or email the relevant people and circulate this in your networks. Thanks.
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Police Attack IWW Labor March in North Providence, RI
One Hospitalized from Attack, Underwent Surgery Last Night.Photos of Attack
(All photos by Jonathan Mcintosh)Vicious Police Attack on IWW Solidarity March in Providence, RI -
Support Needed!Pictures are here: http://jonathanmcintosh.smugmug.com/gallery/3293537
Today (8/11/2007) at 12pm EST the Providence wobblies organized a march
on Jackie’s Galaxy, which is a restaurant chain that is being supplied
by HWH in New York City, a supplier who is notorious for its slave labor
conditions of up to 110 hours per week without basic labor rights
(minimum wage and overtime).Roughly 30-40 wobblies and supporters (including Providence and Boston
SDSers) were marching towards Jackie’s Galaxy in North Providence when
the police began following them en mass. They told the marches to move
to the sidewalk, while this was initially ignored, the marchers listened
to the police and began slowly moving to the sidewalk.The police then surrounded the marchers in their squad cars and began
getting out. With the police in full force, they began attacking the
marchers, one fellow worker, Alex Svoboda, was pinned down by the police
during her arrest and suffered a broken and dislocated leg and ruptured
blood vessel in the knee. These injuries will require at least two
surgeries and extensive rehab and even then may not completely repair
the damage. Jason, another wob, was arrested in during the police’
attack. Ashley, a supporter from Boston, was also severely maced during
the attack, suffered chemical burns and required medical treatment.Despite this, the marchers continued on to Jackie’s Galaxy and
eventually spoke with the owner who at first promised he had switched
suppliers and now denies doing business with HWH although he has no
documentation to prove either claim. Business at Jackie’s Galaxy ceased
completely during the duration of the action and most bystanders were
outraged that Jackie’s would support the crimes of HWH/Dragonland.The Providence wobblies and other supporters of workers’ rights will
continue their pressure on Jackies Galaxy until they stop doing business
with the slave labor shop HWH/Dragonland or until basic rights,
including the right to organize, are instated at HWH/Dragonland.In the meantime they need your support! Alex Svoboda is charged with 3
felony counts of assaulting and office as well as two misdemeanors and
will be unable to work for a significant period time as a result of her
injuries. Money will be needed to provide Alex and Jason with legal
support and also to help with the medical bills and lose of income Alex
will suffer as a result of the brutality of the North Providence Police.
Please send in any donation that you, or your organization can afford to
the Providence General Membership Branch (address below) or contact Mark
Bray at 201-669-0714 or Billy Randel at 646-645-6284.You can also do your part at pressuring the Mayor and Police Chief of
North Providence (contact info below) to at the very least, formally
apologizing to the marchers, dropping all baseless charges and paying
for the injuries and lose of income that were unjustly caused.Photos of the action and the brutal assault can be found here:
http://jonathanmcintosh.smugmug.com/gallery/3293537Providence GMB:
PO box 5795
Providence R.I.
02903Email-ProvidenceIWW@riseup.net
North Providence Mayor:
Charles A. Lombardi
North Providence Town Hall
2000 Smith Street
North Providence, RI 02911
Telephone: (401) 232-0900, ext. 226
Fax: (401) 232-3434Police Chief:
Ernest C. Spaziano
North Providence Police Department
1967 Mineral Spring Ave.
North Providence, R.I. 02904
Business line: 401-233-1433
Fax number: 401-233-1438[ PLEASE call the phone numbers! The mayor’s office doesn’t even have a
voicemail so no luck on the weekend, but the police number goes direct
to the front desk. It is a non-emergency number, but the officers may
actually start arguing back at you. Captain Dumas did just this after
overhearing my polite but firm complaint on speakerphone, and began
arguing that they were “protecting” the marchers from “traffic” when
they sent Alex to the hospital with a busted knee.Remember, THEY ATTACKED A UNION MARCH. We have the right to free speech,
we have the right to organize.
On a side note, see if you can get one of the officers, particularly the
talkative Capt. Dumas, to tell their version of the events. Keep notes.
When you are done speaking to the front desk officer, ask for names and
badge numbers of all officers engaged in the conversation. ]Here’s an update from Mark Bray, received Sunday…
Alex underwent surgery last night on her knee, doctors said she may not
ever walk well on it again.They have contacted and have a lawyer from the NLG helping out.
Solidarity actions may be upcoming. Fundraising is welcome and
encouraged - Alex works at a pastry shop and disability never goes far.
We need to help our own, legally and in recovery from injuries like
this. An injury to one is an injury to all.
motherfuckers… did you see that knee?… man they must have really been rough to have fuck it up that bad… shit.
Comment by tzuchien — August 12, 2007 @ 9:06 pm
Yeah it’s really ugly. I’m told the woman’s gone through the first surgery and is doing a second one on Tuesday. She does have health insurance, which is better than not obviously. Apparently the word that the city has put out is that the police didn’t know what the march planned to do (never mind that it was very clearly a union march and they were going to a place just up the way) and the officers felt afraid or threatened because they were outnumbered (never mind that the cops were armed and that if they had _really_ been outnumbered then they wouldn’t have bothered to try to impede the march).
Comment by Nate — August 12, 2007 @ 11:14 pm
right…. very rational explanation: we felt threatened so we broke this woman’s knee. I hope she sues the police department. bankrupt ‘em
Comment by tzuchien — August 13, 2007 @ 4:42 am
And hopefully get the particular cops involved fired.
Comment by Nate — August 13, 2007 @ 8:10 pm
ok, so yeah her knee looks bad and everything. But that woman put her hands punched/shoved a police officer and then resisted arrest. An officer has the right to use as much (reasonable) force as needed to arrest someone, and if they were wrestling to arrest her, something is bound to happen. Not to sound insensitive, i do feel bad as to what happened to that woman, but the police arent at fault. They were doing their jobs and that’s that. If she gets away with what she did….thats when the mayor is going to get a phone call because that gives others the right to rise up against the people who are out there to protect us. So, best wishes to Alex and to a full recovery, but this web page is complete bull!!
Comment by Dee — August 13, 2007 @ 11:57 pm
Dee,
What evidence do you have for your claims? Were you at the march when the incident occurred? Did you speak to anyone at the march who was present when the incident occurred? Did you see video footage of incident? What experience do you have with labor marches and other marches and demonstrations?
People who were at the march during the incident claim that Alex was one of the people who got the march to comply with the order to move from street to sidewalk. They also say that Alex was in the process of walking from street to sidewalk. I find it much less plausible that she would find it acceptable to strike a police officer - knowing the possible consequences - than the idea that these police officers made a poor decision in the heat of a situation that they were not properly trained to handle. (Small town and suburban police are not trained in crowd and demonstration control the way that police in larger areas are.) I’ve been to a great number of pickets and labor marches and other forms of assembly. I’ve never seen anything like this. From the evidence I see, the police were out of line. Let’s say your unsubstantiated allegations are true and Alex did those things. Witnesses say not that the police “wrestled with Alex in attempt to arrest her while she resisted.” They say the police tackled her. That injury does not look like an injury for normal procedure during apprehension of a suspect. Do you know of other situations where an injury like this has resulted during arrest? I don’t. If the police _really_ needed to arrest her, they could have pepper sprayed her or hit her with their clubs so she would stop resisting and the results would have been much less aggregious. Or does this injury _really_ look to you like the result of ordinary police procedure - use of reasonable force - with a suspect who is resisting arrest? If so, what evidence do you have? Do you know of similar injuries that have occurred in the process? I suspect you do not. I think you’re just assuming that the police are right with no evidence. Had Alex been your daughter I highly doubt you’d be so quick to assert that the police weren’t out of line at all and you’d have a few more questions. In any case we’ll see how the police brutality law suit turns out.
Also, please note that insulting remarks like “this web page is complete bull” undermine rather than support your credibility. Credibility derives from evidence and argument, not from insults.
Yours sincerely,
Nate
Comment by Nate — August 14, 2007 @ 2:04 pm
Nate,
Yes I do know someone who was at that march. Im not saying that the police were right in eveything that they did, but striking a police officer is not the way to handle the situation. I wanted to make sure that both sides of the story are told so that people can form opinions backed up by fact. Im not saying that what im told is the absolute truth, i just want people to know that there was other things going on besides the things stated on this website. I also want to let you know that I was not quick to assume. I read several articles, viewed photos, and spoke to someone at the protest, so you should not be so quick to assume that I am naive to the situation. It is obvious that no one has all the facts. People are going to say things to better their friends, or fellow picketers. Im not saying that is what happened, because I do not know, I was not there to witness this. But we can not sit here and state things as fact when we really don’t know. And as far as the insulting comment, it came across the wrong way, i just want everyone to know that there are other stories and for them to do a little more research, that’s all. Not everything that comes from the media is the truth….
Comment by Dee — August 14, 2007 @ 5:01 pm
What they did to her knee is a move that is used ONLY in a situation where the officer thinks his or her life is in danger. He obviously grabbed her and stomped with great force onto the side of her knee. That is the only way that could happen. If she had struck the officer (which I don’t think she did) he had no right to use that kind of excessive force to bring somebody down. And if you look in the picture when she’s on the ground, they’re cuffing her! I’m pretty sure somebody with that kind of injury does not need to be cuffed. Textbook police brutality.
Comment by Steve — August 14, 2007 @ 10:36 pm
Ok, well I know someone who was there and they explain the situation differently. I disagree with your opinion, but I’m just here to let people know the other side of the story, not to discredit your opinion.
Comment by Dee — August 14, 2007 @ 10:44 pm
Steve, thanks for the info.
Dee, first off, I appreciate your conciliatory tone.
I’m not surprised that accounts vary, I imagine it was a pretty fast and intense thing. I also think you and I are likely to trust and suspect different sources. I was at a march once where police in riot gear hit someone with clubs and afterward there were accounts that said that protesters had bitten some of the riot police, which is pretty much impossible given the armor they wear. The person who said this was the wife of an officer who was present. I’m also skeptical of the charges against Alex because from what I understand, it’s standard procedure that if you are struck by a police officer you will be charged with assaulting a police officer and with resisting arrest. Like I said, we’ll see what shakes out in the coming days in response to this. I’ve been to probably 150 labor and other marches, a lot of them much bigger and more confrontational than this one, including situations where people were getting in the police’s faces or striking them and resisting arrest, and I’ve never seen an injury like that. That’s part of what makes me think what I do. It also seems to me that police are more likely to act rashly in ways that injure people when they’re not adequately prepared - like six police without much experience of marches and so on trying to stop a group of 30-40 people (really a pretty small gathering), quickly starting to feel like they’re in over their heads then acting in a way which has results like this.
yours,
Nate
Comment by Nate — August 15, 2007 @ 12:27 am
I was reading the article in the Providence Journal today and this is what someone was quoted saying: “I saw an officer put his hands on her and grab her as he went forward into her,” he said. “She was playing drums on the bucket, and she recoiled.” The impact caused her to fall back down into the crowd, according to Bray, who says he then saw the police charge into the crowd after her. “I was right nearby. She was dazed from the initial encounter and then three cops converged on her. One took the task of kicking her legs from out from under her while they pushed her to the ground. It was a fall, but not a natural fall.” Regardless of how it happened though, it was unnecessary and cruel. The police officers don’t deserve their jobs.
Comment by Steve — August 15, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
simply, i am disturbed but these events. but until i hear what alex says about the situation i can have no certainties to who is at fault. if she did strike an officer, though i strongly doubt this, it was foolish. but it would not warrant the force which these officers used to apprehend and restrain her. The outcome of this tragedy, though many factors are present, probably with many catalystic circumstances, boils down to improper training and improper situation management by the officers involved. First and foremost we must worry about the victim here(Alex), then about the atonement for these injustices. We need to spread word of whats happened and incourage everyone, supporters and dissenters alike to speak out.
Comment by jesse — August 15, 2007 @ 3:11 pm