Police Sergeant Mirabal arrests a youth for alleged “spitting”
(Photo: Thomas Good)
New York, NY – October 7, 2005. Brandishing his yellow taser pistol, NYPD Sergeant Mirabal told startled protesters they were being arrested for “inciting to riot, disorderly conduct – the whole works!” Police were running to and fro grabbing protesters willy nilly – in the middle of a very surreal scene. A man in a vampire mask – a fake vein throbbing on the back of his neck – walked through the chaos completely oblivious. And no wonder – he wasn’t there for the demonstration. He was part of a film crew shooting their own drama. Park Avenue had been transformed into a movie set for the day. It was an odd coincidence that “I am Legend”, a remake of the Omega Man, was being filmed at the same time and place as what most observers characterized as a police riot was going on.
The day had started quietly enough – SDS New York had scheduled a citywide meeting for 3 pm the same day, not anticipating a peaceful protest would land 6 people in the Tombs. Protesters had gathered at the Mexican Consulate – 39th Street between Madison and Park – around 11 am. On the east side of the consulate were about 30 “minutemen”, the racist anti-immigration group many jokingly call the “minute-klan”. To the west were 60-70 counter demonstrators – including a number of SDSers. The NYPD had herded the two opposing groups into protest pens on either side of the front door of the consulate. Each side waved their flags and chanted. On the minuteman side a particularly bellicose demonstrator baited counter-protesters by bellowing remarks through a bullhorn – remarks that can only be termed childish: “ha ha, we’re winning, you guys are losing…”, etc. It wasn’t immediately apparent that anything out of the ordinary was happening. That would change quickly.
At 12:10 PM one of the anti-racist demonstrators was yanked out of the protest pen by an undercover. No explanation was given. This person was charged with “spitting” – a health code violation – but the charges were later dismissed. At this point it became obvious to media – all of us close enough to hear the police chatter – that Sergeant Mirabal was very jumpy. During the arrest he pulled pepper spray from his belt and clutched it as he yelled at bystanders who asked why he had ordered the arrest of the young protester – but never used it. This scene would be replicated 30 – 40 minutes later, when Mirabal unholstered his Taser and waved it around as he paced to and fro on 39th Street – once again he would not use his weapon.
Shortly before one o’clock the minute-klan and some counter-demonstraters departed, heading east on 39th. Mirabal and other cops ran towards Park Avenue, positioning themselves between the racists and the protesters. One of the racists opened his jacket and demanded media “take a picture of (his) shirt!” – his t-shirt depicted a jackboot footprint and stenciled lettering” “stomp out illegal immigrants”. The skinhead glared at the media and the protesters but soon departed along with his cohorts. The situation had calmed – the minutemen were gone and protesters were dispersing. At this point a police truck pulled up and Mirabal – the highest ranking cop on site – ordered the arrest of several protesters. It appeared that he had called for the truck earlier and once it arrived he decided to use it despite the lack of any significant activity in the immediate vicinity. All of those detained were counter-demonstrators – none of the racists were arrested.
Pat Korte of New School SDS is arrested for standing on the sidewalk
(Photo: Thomas Good)
After the arrests a number of SDS proceeded to the 13th PCT where the protesters were being processed. Members of SDS New York and others doing jail support were barricaded into a section of 21st Street (btwn 2 and 3rd Ave) on the opposite side of the street from the precinct. Here they maintained a spirited vigil – banging on pots and pans and chanting for several hours while the NYPD slowly processed the protesters. Late in the afternoon the police, obviously rattled by the SDS presence, backed a police truck up on the sidewalk, all the way to the front door and surrounded it with cops. A short time later they loaded the activists into the truck and drove them to the Tombs.
Pat Korte looks out from the police truck bound for the “Tombs”
(Photo: Thomas Good)
The activists arrested on Park Avenue were charged with “inciting to riot” and two disorderly conduct charges. All of the arrestees were released by 12:15 AM on Monday, October 9th. A court date has been set for November 13, 2006.
