Animal Rights Activists Conquer Police State

by Jerry Vlasak

On January 2nd, animals rights activists from all over the United States gathered in Syracuse to demonstrate solidarity with some of the most active protesters in the nation. Syracuse police, aligned with local fur store owners and the press, had made it almost impossible to protest at Giorgio's Furs in downtown Syracuse by the use of numerous restraining orders. Hence, the call went out for others to converge in Syracuse to reassert their right to protest and to demonstrate the power of the grassroots.

After preliminary meetings to discuss strategy, more than 40 protesters, all willing to risk arrest, assembled more than a mile from the targeted fur store and prepared for a march through the center of town. Police quickly converged on the gathering site, which had to be relocated to accommodate parking restrictions. With orderly lines of six to eight activists, the march began behind a huge banner decrying the cruelty inherent in the fur trade. Police provided escort down the busy main street for the entire march to the fur store, with continual loud chanting the entire way.

COPS BEAT ACTIVISTS

On arrival at the front of Giorgio's Furs, police tried to disperse the loud but peaceful demonstration, but the group had other plans. As the front line tried to turn and position itself on the sidewalk, the police began throwing first one and then another activist to the snow-covered ground, brutally kicking and beating them into submission, handcuffing them and dragging them through snow and water to awaiting vans. Most activists went limp and offered no resistance and news media was on hand to document the entire event. Eight activists were arrested, as the remaining marchers retreated to the far side of the street, later to be dispersed by the same police.

On arrival at the police station, five of the eight arrested refused to give any information, including their names. Each was slammed into a brick wall to await processing. This took much of the remainder of the day and by nightfall, activists had been taken to the psychiatric "pod" of the jail facility. The following day, the two women arrested were released on bail, another activist was bailed out by his parents against his will, and the remaining five provided their names in order to be arraigned. Bail was set at from $1500 to $3000 and refused. Later that night the imprisoned activists watched as another inmate hung himself in his cell, rescued moments before death by deputies who stripped him naked and locked him in a padded cell for his efforts. He cried aloud the rest of the night. Where is the compassion in humankind?

DANGEROUS THIRST STRIKE

The five remaining activists, having refused bail, settled in for a hunger, and, this time, a thirst strike. This was a strategy developed to increase the pressure on a notoriously unresponsive police force and not one undertaken lightly. The human body can be seriously damaged after only a few days without water and, indeed, within two days, two activists had passed out, requiring emergency medical intervention. News was quickly smuggled to the activists doing jail support and we were soon joined by a sixth activist arrested at a support demonstration when he jumped atop a police car to incite the protesters to action. The press was suddenly sympathetic as the activists' willingness to sacrifice their health was examined and the seriousness of their convictions was recognized.

The next hearing was scheduled for seven days later, but by the fifth day of incarceration, several more hospitalizations had taken place. No one was seriously ill but the police were now very worried, despite their apparent lack of concern to those in their custody. Many of the prisoners were moved to the jail infirmary, where the beds were more comfortable and the cells larger. One activist was in solitary confinement for five days for refusing to undergo tuberculosis testing, despite being placed numerous times in crowded holding cells. Most of the time, activists were on "administrative isolation" in retaliation for their unwillingness to cooperate with a system of animal and human abuse. On Monday, five days after being unjustly jailed for peaceably demonstrating, all activists but one were released without bail, and walked out of the jail to the waiting news cameras and supporters carrying food and water.

VICTORY!

After a hastily-called meeting, another protest at the same fur store was called for the following day, in order to establish, once and for all, the right of free speech in the prison-state of Syracuse. Members of the local human-rights organization as well as sympathetic attorneys turned out with more than 20 demonstrators, including many of those just released from jail. The police were now on their best behavior, after taking a beating from the press over the past five days. No arrests were made despite picketing, chanting, and leafleting in front of Giorgio's for more than an hour. The point had been made, and the cruel fur trade could once again be exposed as the lowest rung of humanity.

As of press time, all activists remain free, without paying bond, and are looking forward to trial where they can continue to educate the public about the injustices our fur-bearing friends must endure. When criminal charges are beat, lawsuits will be filed for the infringement upon civil rights, and the Syracuse police will learn a lesson not only on fur, but on freedom of speech as well.