I Got Hit With Sticks By Cops (CW: Police Violence)
Jun 30, 2024 22:34:21 GMT 1
lentlsoup, astraldreams, and 1 more like this
Post by Nachtkern on Jun 30, 2024 22:34:21 GMT 1
I've mentioned this before in the Discord server, but I wanted to give a little update on how things have been since then.
About two and a half weeks ago I was at a protest against the violence in Gaza and the occupation of Palestine, where police used violence against the demonstrators and beat up me and my mom with batons (among others, and among other things). Although it's not really a secret either, (so you're welcome to ask me about it privately if you're curious), I'll leave the details aside in this post because the full context of when, where, and why this happened is a bit of a self-dox. In short though, the mayor ordered an excessive amount of riot cops to the demonstration, which tried to agitate and intimidate demonstrators, and when this didn't work, the police just went straight to hitting people with batons, without even giving warning. A lot of demonstrators were badly injured - some people broke bones, someone was beaten unconscious, and while I got off relatively well with only bruising, the police did endanger my life through the forms of violence they used.
My arm was unusable without pain and heavy cramping for about two weeks, but it's healing well and I can draw again by now (though I haven't found the time to since then)! My mom actually got battered a lot worse than I did, and she still can't use her hands as well or breathe without pain in her ribcage - but overall is recovering, too. I think honestly she's more angry by this point than in pain, for what that's worth. We have a right to protest, and sicking cops on demonstrators just for being at a protest is a violation of freedom of speech. None of the demonstrators that were there have actually used violence or threatened anyone (and there is footage of everything), but even if anyone had, that doesn't mean the police can (legally) just use indiscriminate violence against demonstrators doing their thing. And there were many other ways in which the police acted out of line, even by the standards and rules they are supposedly held to - not just in my personal opinion.
So naturally all of this has been kind of a mess, and threw a wrench in my plans for June. Not even just because my dominant arm was injured (I'm sure that in the two-and-a-half weeks I have been out of commission for, I could have become left-handed) - I've just been incredibly busy. Normally when you report a crime or accuse someone, you have to go to the police about it. In this case, because I'm accusing police, I have to go through a sub-department of police (but still police), and they're not eager or accommodating to let me actually accuse them. I finally have an appointment with them for the 4th of July to do it, but after a lot of back-and-forth. I've also had to find a lawyer, I've been in contact with various human rights organizations both for aid and to share my experiences with them, I'm somewhat-reluctantly getting involved with local politics because my mom has personal beef with the mayor now and apparently going through the muncipal council is the only way to do anything about it, and I've been trying to keep in touch with the other people I know that were there, for as far as that's been possible. Besides being out and about, I've been spending almost all my remaining time either sleeping to recover, and writing my statement. There's some time pressure on finishing that, and I still have to finish some revisions and go through the remaining footage I have.
I honestly don't think I'm going to win this case when it goes to court, regardless of how much in the right I think I am, and how much evidence there is to back it up - the reason any of this happened in the first place is because of abuse of power and the flaws of the systems around us that allow for that. But even if I don't think anything will come of it, I feel like I should use the full extent of my rights as far as that is possible, which includes legal followup.
All that's kept me busy, and is the reason I've yet to send out (or actually finish stapling) the zines. There was an event planned to go along with some changes to the NIGHTCORNER, but it's been moved to until after ArtFight. I've got several commissions left to finish, that have been put on hold but I expect to get back to during ArtFight. And... there is of course ArtFight, which I still plan to participate in, but at least for the first half, probably won't be able to give as much time and attention as I'd like. That's okay though - you know how I am with ArtFight, haha.
As always... if you have any questions about the status of events or art, you're welcome to ask about it. I try and be transparent about my schedule and what I'm working on, but like, I know I do also have the tendency to disappear when I get busy.
About two and a half weeks ago I was at a protest against the violence in Gaza and the occupation of Palestine, where police used violence against the demonstrators and beat up me and my mom with batons (among others, and among other things). Although it's not really a secret either, (so you're welcome to ask me about it privately if you're curious), I'll leave the details aside in this post because the full context of when, where, and why this happened is a bit of a self-dox. In short though, the mayor ordered an excessive amount of riot cops to the demonstration, which tried to agitate and intimidate demonstrators, and when this didn't work, the police just went straight to hitting people with batons, without even giving warning. A lot of demonstrators were badly injured - some people broke bones, someone was beaten unconscious, and while I got off relatively well with only bruising, the police did endanger my life through the forms of violence they used.
My arm was unusable without pain and heavy cramping for about two weeks, but it's healing well and I can draw again by now (though I haven't found the time to since then)! My mom actually got battered a lot worse than I did, and she still can't use her hands as well or breathe without pain in her ribcage - but overall is recovering, too. I think honestly she's more angry by this point than in pain, for what that's worth. We have a right to protest, and sicking cops on demonstrators just for being at a protest is a violation of freedom of speech. None of the demonstrators that were there have actually used violence or threatened anyone (and there is footage of everything), but even if anyone had, that doesn't mean the police can (legally) just use indiscriminate violence against demonstrators doing their thing. And there were many other ways in which the police acted out of line, even by the standards and rules they are supposedly held to - not just in my personal opinion.
So naturally all of this has been kind of a mess, and threw a wrench in my plans for June. Not even just because my dominant arm was injured (I'm sure that in the two-and-a-half weeks I have been out of commission for, I could have become left-handed) - I've just been incredibly busy. Normally when you report a crime or accuse someone, you have to go to the police about it. In this case, because I'm accusing police, I have to go through a sub-department of police (but still police), and they're not eager or accommodating to let me actually accuse them. I finally have an appointment with them for the 4th of July to do it, but after a lot of back-and-forth. I've also had to find a lawyer, I've been in contact with various human rights organizations both for aid and to share my experiences with them, I'm somewhat-reluctantly getting involved with local politics because my mom has personal beef with the mayor now and apparently going through the muncipal council is the only way to do anything about it, and I've been trying to keep in touch with the other people I know that were there, for as far as that's been possible. Besides being out and about, I've been spending almost all my remaining time either sleeping to recover, and writing my statement. There's some time pressure on finishing that, and I still have to finish some revisions and go through the remaining footage I have.
I honestly don't think I'm going to win this case when it goes to court, regardless of how much in the right I think I am, and how much evidence there is to back it up - the reason any of this happened in the first place is because of abuse of power and the flaws of the systems around us that allow for that. But even if I don't think anything will come of it, I feel like I should use the full extent of my rights as far as that is possible, which includes legal followup.
All that's kept me busy, and is the reason I've yet to send out (or actually finish stapling) the zines. There was an event planned to go along with some changes to the NIGHTCORNER, but it's been moved to until after ArtFight. I've got several commissions left to finish, that have been put on hold but I expect to get back to during ArtFight. And... there is of course ArtFight, which I still plan to participate in, but at least for the first half, probably won't be able to give as much time and attention as I'd like. That's okay though - you know how I am with ArtFight, haha.
As always... if you have any questions about the status of events or art, you're welcome to ask about it. I try and be transparent about my schedule and what I'm working on, but like, I know I do also have the tendency to disappear when I get busy.