A mind behind the once-edgy animated series Family Guy, writer Patrick Meighan, describes being tortured by police alongside 291 fellow activists from the L.A. wing of the Occupy movement:
I was put on a paddywagon with other nonviolent protestors and taken to a parking garage in Parker Center. They forced us to kneel on the hard pavement of that parking garage for seven straight hours with our hands still tightly zipcuffed behind our backs.
My hands… turned blue. I am now suffering nerve damage in my right thumb and palm.
Some began to pass out. One man rolled to the ground and vomited for a long, long time before falling unconscious. The LAPD officers watched and did nothing.
It seems unreal, yet tales like Patrick’s are becoming an all too common occurrence. Why are the police relying on such a militarized response to peaceful protesters? Because they are paid to do it, and they are getting away with it. Simple as that.
For how much longer is up to Americans themselves. No doubt, each case of shocking brutality made public adds more fuel to the already overstuffed tinderbox. And when the people’s uprising hits in full force, I’d like to think most police will be standing on the right side of the protest line.
