Reply #48: I am aware of the story. She was singled out and jumped on by

[sabrina 1]

police before she had a chance to comply. She was a guest of a Congresswoman and was very tired after attending another event, that was the event for which she wore the tee-shirt and did not have time to change.

She was hand-cuffed and hauled off, injured, questioned for over an hour and held for several hours before being released. During that hour long questioning ordeal, even if you forgive the rest of the wrongful arrest, was it not possible to learn why she was wearing the shirt and that it was not a demonstration at all, something she had not even thought about? Also, she had not really wanted to attend, so had no interest or intention of making a statement there.

The other woman should not have been asked to leave either.

As it turns out, the Chief of Police was embarrassed by the actions of his officers and apologized to Cindy Sheehan. The ridiculous charges against her were dropped. The Police Chief attempted to take the heat off those who violated her rights by taking some of the blame himself.



http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/02/politics/main1272923.shtml

Gainer apologized, saying, "The officers made a good faith, but mistaken effort to enforce an old unwritten interpretation of the prohibitions about demonstrating in the Capitol.

"The policy and procedures were too vague," he added. "The failure to adequately prepare the officers is mine."

But, back home in Los Angeles Wednesday, Sheehan told Linda Alvarez of CBS station KCBS-TV, "They violated my civil rights they humiliated me. They treated me like, instead of having just a t-shirt on, I had a weapon."

I am surprised to see anyone here even attempt to justify that arrest. I thought it had been well established that she was arrested because of who she was. The 'law' that people here are citing here was, as you can see not even a written law, and even worse, a lame interpretation of a law that old and unwritten. It was the equivalent of arresting someone for hanging out wash on Sunday. A ridiculous excuse for an arrest.

She was not the only one, but one of thousands treated this way over the past eight years. To be clear, I am not in favor of arresting people who are not breaking the law no matter what 'side' they are on. I am asking why things have changed so much without any explanation.

If people want to argue for allowing more freedom to dissent, I am all for it. But you cannot make that argument and then approve or defend what happened to Cindy Sheehan and thousands of other Americans. Those wrongs need to be addressed, unless you believe that treating Democrats one way and Republicans another is okay. I do not.