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With all that shit now out of the way, let's talk about how SPD arrests people on nonsense charges.
I want to tell a couple stories about people I met in jail, because it's not just protesters getting arrested on trumped up bullshit.
#seattleprotests #defundSPD #defundthePolice
I want to tell a couple stories about people I met in jail, because it's not just protesters getting arrested on trumped up bullshit.
#seattleprotests #defundSPD #defundthePolice
One man was working construction on a subdevelopment. His boss sent him to work on a house on the site, and a neighbor called the police thinking he was a thief.
When a swarm of cops showed up at the site, he panicked and ran, so they arrested him.
When a swarm of cops showed up at the site, he panicked and ran, so they arrested him.
After the arrest they realized he hadn't done anything criminal - just was doing his job. But he had some unpaid fines from years ago when he was 18. So they threw him in jail and set his bail over $10,000.
He had to sell his car to get out. Now he can't work.
He had to sell his car to get out. Now he can't work.
Another man was threatened with a gun by a family member, and chased him down the street. He called 911 for help but they didn't come for over an hour. When they finally did the situation had calmed and he was sitting in a car with the family member.
The cops arrested him instead of the family member, because the gun was in the car with the two of them. The family member had a gun license, but the man in question didn't, so the cops claimed that it was his gun, and arrested him. His bail was over $10,000
He had to spend the entire unemployment + COVID19 stimulus he had just received days prior after months of scraping by on nothing to get out of jail.
Now he's broke again.
Now he's broke again.
Look, being arrested for protesting sucks. Jail is a horrid, Kafkaesque place.
But I was in for two days, had the National Lawyer's Guild on my case without even having to call them, my $1000 bail was paid by a bail fund, and the court declined to charge me.
What about others?
But I was in for two days, had the National Lawyer's Guild on my case without even having to call them, my $1000 bail was paid by a bail fund, and the court declined to charge me.
What about others?
If they could falsely charge me with a made-up felony while under incredible political scrutiny, think what they can do to everyone else all the time.
If they can use the legal system to try and intimidate me with baseless charges, think what they can do to everyone else
If they can use the legal system to try and intimidate me with baseless charges, think what they can do to everyone else
These people's stories are why we should be protesting.
What threat do these people pose to society that they must be in jail? Absolutely nothing. They're in jail because that's just how it works.
Fuck cops, fuck this "justice" system, and fuck the carceral state
What threat do these people pose to society that they must be in jail? Absolutely nothing. They're in jail because that's just how it works.
Fuck cops, fuck this "justice" system, and fuck the carceral state
