by Anthony Tolda
I am writing this article to spread the message that peaceful protesters are being arrested, many of them women, and that they are apparently being subjected to a degree of cruel and unusual punishment.
I went to the financial district after work on the night of the 16th. I had seen the footage on TV at work about the Bloomberg ordered NYPD raid on the Occupy Wall Street protesters in Zuccotti park.
I was there a few times before to be one of the educated, conservative, free market capitalist voices around the Occupy Wall Street movement. Some of you might laugh at that, but there is more of it than you might think around OWS.
I parked a few blocks away and saw a small protester march with almost a one to one ratio of about 30 protesters to maybe 2 dozen or so cops. A young woman started asking the cops if she could be assured the conduct of the NYPD around the arrested women involved with OWS was going to be improved compared to what she had just got done dealing with. She said some of the male officers had been walking around areas they were not supposed to in the jail in order to look at women changing, being searched, or using a toilet.
She said one officer was reprimanded by a superior about it but that others continued the behavior anyway.
She reminded the cops it could be their wife, mother, sister, daughter dealing with this type of situation.
I have to admit my blood was kind of boiling hearing this, and seeing the NYPD refuse to speak a word to this woman.
I waited for a silent moment, and told the NYPD “You guys all swore an Oath to uphold and defend the Constitution from all enemies both foreign and domestic”. The young woman went on about how this conduct of the officers is what she considers a tactic to stop the protests or make them weaker.
Another woman started arguing with her, and a guy in the crowd told me he’d like me to continue lecturing the cops when I felt the time was right.
I waited awhile, and then started talking about the Oath Keepers group. A support group for Military and Police that have a list of 10 unconstitutional orders they will not obey. I said they can join or learn from the Oath Keepers anonymously and that if their oaths meant anything to them at all, they should learn more about it.
I was pretty disgusted at the whole situation, lingered for a few seconds and walked off to Zuccotti park to see the aftermath of the raid that had just happened. If what I said that night changed the heart and mind of even one cop that was present, or if writing this makes even one cop change their heart and mind, then it’s a step closer to the better world that Occupy Wall Street, and Tea Party, and many other groups and individuals all over the world are fighting for.
Here is a link to the Oath Keepers YouTube video explaining the 10 unconstitutional orders they will not obey, if anybody wishes to learn from it.
Their website is
http://oathkeepers.org/oath/
Thanks for reading,
Anthony E. Tolda
Republican candidate for US Congress NY CD-2
ToldaForCongress.com