Progressive Democrat Issue 76: NYC FOCUS

The FBI is investigating the NYPD's actions during the 2004 Republican Convention protests. Starting with the RNC protests, the NYPD has taken fairly draconian methods of dealing with protesters. I witnessed a little of this when I saw the NYPD use motor scooters for crowd control, actually pushing into the crowd with their scooters...and the cops were not in uniform, making it seem like it was an attack by hoodlums. More recently, I saw on Current TV footage of NYPD officers (out of uniform) actually antagonizing protesters to start a fight so they could arrest people.

Well, it looks like some of these practices are going to bite the NYPD in the ass:

The New York Times

May 17, 2006

F.B.I. Is Seeking to Interview Jailed Activists

By AL BAKER

As part of a continuing criminal civil rights investigation of the New York Police Department, the F.B.I. is seeking to interview protesters who were arrested in 2004 during the Republican National Convention and then had the charges against them dismissed. Investigators are specifically seeking one protester whose case prompted the federal inquiry.

Agents from the New York office of the F.B.I. have sent a letter to the New York Civil Liberties Union asking for help in identifying and finding those whose arrests and prosecutions were dismissed based on contradictory videotape evidence.

"We are attempting to determine if any police officers' conduct violated federal civil rights statutes," said the two_page letter, dated May 11, which was sent by agents from the New York field office of the F.B.I.

The NYPD have a very tough job. I appreciate what they do. But under Bloomberg the civil rights of dissenters have been stepped on repeatedly and the NYPD have been his method of choice for doing so. Norm Seigel has been doing a lot to help dissenters express their first amendment rights in NYC dispite Bloomberg's attacks on those rights. I hope this FBI investigation will help stop Bloomerg and the NYPD from treading on our rights.

If you are or know of a protester who was arrested, please contact the New York Civil Liberties Union regarding the FBI investigation.

And, by the way...where has the Public Advocate been all this time? Betsy? No advocacy for the public? Contact the media and complain about the mayor's and NYPD's bad record on civil rights and the lack of action from the Public Advocate.