Rose Gets Arrested
From crispyneurons
Rose Murphy, friend and protester, was recently arrested at a Yale union rally. In the photographs, Rose is the protester with the dark curly hair and blue jacket on the left. This is her story, in her own words...
"The civil disobedience arrest was during a rally to get 4000 Yale employees a new union contract. They had not had a contract since January 2002. During the strike, we were doing everything we could to make the university realize it was time to settle. Over the three weeks of the strike, over 200 people got arrested for blocking traffic and not moving when the cops ordered us to get out of the street. (Side note, the New Haven cops are awesome. They treated us totally respectfully. The one who arrested me told me she is in the police union and she understands what we are going through.) As a result of the acts of civil disobedience, traffic was backed up for miles.
"At that particular rally, between 5,000 and 10,000 union members from Boston to Philly joined Yale union members and New Haven residents for a rally and march in New Haven. At the end, we sat down in the middle of a normally busy intersection (which at the time was wet from the rain) and would not move until we were escorted away by the police. I was sitting next to a professor from the History department and an organizer from the health care workers union in NY (SEIU District 1199NY).
"After being arrested, I was placed in plastic handcuffs and shuttled onto a 'paddy wagon.' It was a converted school bus with windows that don't open and cross-hatched bars on the inside. The bus stunk of ammonia.
"I sat on the bus for just over two hours. When I first got on, the cop in charge was making jokes with us. He offered me a bologna and cheese sandwich. (I didn't get that it was a joke, I'm still not sure what is funny about offering food to people who haven't eaten in awhile and won't be released for a few hours.) While I was on the bus, the police officers filled out all the paperwork. My bus was the last to get processed. The 15 arrestees on the bus were shuffled into the police station gym. Upon entering, a a very cautious female officer patted me down. The gym was bright yellow and unpleasantly garish.
"Once I received my court date from the officer who did my paperwork, a photographer took my mug shot and I left. When I went for my court appearance, the judge and prosecutor postponed my hearing until November."
