A FERVENT CROWD of 100 or so activists gathered in a circle, chanting in the dry oasis beneath the Burnside Bridge late Monday, October 3. Bike commuters and joggers craned their heads to check them out. The homeless campers who usually inhabit the spot were amused.
Once, twice, and then a third time, the crowd shouted in unison: “Officer, I’m going to remain silent. I want to see a lawyer.” The man in the middle of the circle, flannel-clad defense attorney Kenneth Kreuscher, wasn’t satisfied. After a brief pause, he made them say it one more time. And then he went on to another topic—still hammering his main point: “It is dangerous to talk to the police.”
Kreuscher, working with the National Lawyers Guild, was delivering a brief, energetic lecture called “Know Your Rights”—essentially all about how not to get arrested during a rally and what to do in case you are. He was invited by the organizers of Occupy Portland, the anti-corporate group planning a noontime rally Thursday at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, followed by a march to Pioneer Courthouse Square. (And then, likely, followed by days of camping out along the Willamette.)
Hundreds of activists are expected to show—setting up an inevitable clash, even if it’s a quiet one, with Portland cops. Will you be at the rally? We took notes during Kreuscher’s lecture. Here’s what you need to know.
Cops Are Tricky
Not only have cops been known to go undercover to infiltrate rallies, but they can also lie and commit some crimes as part of their missions. Sometimes, they may even pretend to be your friend, encouraging you to commit a crime. Entrapment, Kreuscher says, is a difficult and very specific legal principle to prove—so don’t expect to rely on it if you suddenly find out your “friend” is actually the fuzz.
Don’t Talk; Walk Away
Kreuscher says some officers will try to make small talk with protesters, something that can get them to unwittingly incriminate themselves or others. Unless a cop is compelling it, you can treat a cop like anyone else: “You don’t have to speak to an officer on the street unless you choose to.” The best thing, Kreuscher says, is to be unfailingly polite but say you’re busy and then walk away. That’s key. If you stay put, you might eventually relent and start chatting.
Ask for a Lawyer
Kreuscher was drilling the crowd on this point. If an officer detains you or steps up an encounter, loudly say you’ll be silent and ask for a lawyer. Most cops, he says, are trained to shut up when an attorney is invoked. And judges, he notes, also frown on cops who don’t respect that.
Don’t Lie to a Cop
Sometimes they’re FBI agents, not local cops, who are shadowing you. If you lie to a federal agent, even possibly by giving a fake name, you could wind up charged with a federal felony and face five years in prison.
Never Allow a Search
If you ever feel like a cop is trying to peek into your bag, subtly or not, loudly say, so there are witnesses: “I DO NOT CONSENT TO THIS SEARCH.” This is especially important if someone else might have held your bag for you at some point. You might not know whether they put something illicit inside it. Kreuscher says when he reads a police report where a defendant said this, “It makes me love them. They didn’t screw themselves.”
But even if you heed Kreuscher’s advice? You still might get arrested. Or worse. “It’s not a magic wand,” he says. “It’s just a way of making a shitty situation less shitty.”
I got a better way not to get arrested at this useless rally – don’t show up.
It’d be easier to not get arrested if the organizers hadn’t refused to get a permit out of sheer resentment (just go to the occupy portland website and read the descriptions of what happened at the general assembly meeting).
At this point I figure I’d better go in hopes that a strong showing by non-fools can force the “activists” to chill the fuck out.
Otherwise, they could start an incident that would fuck up the entire “Occupy” movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF7e2rgzsrU you fuckers
I’m reminded of something. During the demonstrations in 2003 against the invasion of Iraq, an excitable friend of mine began having a spirited discussion with a police officer and was pointed his finger at the officer in emphasis as he talked. As the finger started getting closer to the officer’s lapel with each phrase, I noticed that the officer was now standing very still.
I knew that the moment that Kaelin’s finger brushed the fabric, something bad was going to happen. I was able to steer K. away and saved him, I’m quite sure, from an unpleasant outcome.
“I got a better way not to get arrested at this useless rally – don’t show up.”
Show continue to let the assholes walk all over you, right. I bet that would’ve been sound advice to all the Civil Rights activists back in the 50’s and 60’s.
These are all great points listed in this article. Thanks Merc for printing them here. I’ve already been trying to point some of this shit out – including the FACT that these pigs are known to send provokatours into these groups disguised as “protesters”, then committing crimes so that the cops will have a perfect “pretext”.
“As the finger started getting closer to the officer’s lapel with each phrase, I noticed that the officer was now standing very still.”
Good story. It just goes to show you that these fucking goddamn pigs are nothing but cowardly, wild animals! They’re like wild, feral dogs really. These goddamn cops know nothing but rage and violence. There’s NO reasoning with them. So you should NEVER even talk to them!
That wasn’t exactly my point, DamosA. I did get the sense that the office was going to arrest Kaelin as soon as his finger made any contact. Kaelin didn’t intend to assault the officer, but neither should the officer have really been expected to allow himself to be subjected to any contact, or to have to back up to avoid it. If the situation had been reversed Kaelin wouldn’t have appreciated it much either. Somebody needed to defuse the situation; luckily I was there.
Having said all that, I agree generally with the points made in the article above. And I *did* have personal experience of what I considered to be excessive force by police officers during the demonstrations in ’03. But that’s another story.
Interesting to view the police force through DamosA’s and then Todd’s eyes.
Both think they have been wronged by cops.
Which one seems to have the more constructive view of police?
The Tea Party movement began as a fragmented ground roots movement hijacked to some extent by Grover Norquist and the Tax Reform movement who along with the the Koch brothers were able to get hundreds of politicians to“Pledge” fidelity to big business without social concern based upon a small government, no tax, less regulation platform.
They are making actively promoting their version of the American future. Our turn.
The other side of the story that many Americans live every single day? Citizens without health care, low world wide educational standards, environmental deruglutaion, increasing poverty, financial insecurity for seniors.
Wake up America. Our life expectancy is 36th in the world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy. Tied with Cuba!
The Portland I know everyday come in all types and want a fair shake.
See you on the streets in PDX. We have a voice because there is a cause. America.
Well since i myself have been making the same points listed above, i’d say we’ve both spot on.
Don’t talk to/make contact with cops.
Don’t cooperate with cops.
Don’t deal with cops.
Ask for a lawyer.
Watch your shit.
Watch out for NARCS, stooges, and snitches.
I hope by now that everyone knows never to talk to the police in ANY situation without a lawyer. It’s not a radical or revolutionary principle, it’s just a matter of protecting yourself. There’s a reason for the 5th amendment and the right to legal counsel. Our country has an incarceration rate that dwarfs Russia and China — there is a very good chance that, even if you didn’t do anything wrong, you might accidentally incriminate yourself and get yourself fined, jailed or worse. Just say, “I have no comment” and tell them you’d like legal counsel. End of conversation. If you want to help the police, help them with a lawyer in the room.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc…
FROM MY VAST EXPERIENCE PLAYING GTA4; I WOULD SAY THE BEST WAY TO NOT GET ARRESTED IS TO STEAL A HELICOPTER AND THEN GET TO A CAR-BODY-PAINTING ESTABLISHMENT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLY.
Everything damosa said is EXACTLY what happened during the Seattle WTO riots in November of 1999. Once the zip-tie cuffs are on you, take a vow of silence until you are released from jail. The jailers will do everything they can during processing to provoke an altercation out of you. Silence and no eye contact are your best bets
“What do we want!” “We don’t know!” “When do we want it?” “NOW”
DamosA: does your mommy give you money to buy lunch during a break in the protests? So insightful with your provocative language and profile picture of a Satan worshipper who slaughtered innocent people. You are just so, so DANGEROUS.
Stay home n play Xbox?
Fear is a large part of the problem we are now in, 1985 much? Kudos to all of those who didn’t take this advice.
“DamosA: does your mommy give you money to buy lunch during a break in the protests? So insightful with your provocative language and profile picture of a Satan worshipper who slaughtered innocent people. You are just so, so DANGEROUS.”
You mad, huh? You got a problem with Satan worshippers, now? Ad FYI, Ramirez was a convinient scapegoat of a system that’s racist against Latinos. It was most likely an LAPD cop behind those murders.
Oh, *that’s* who your profile picture is of…
I always thought Ramirez was the Ancient Egyptian immortal that taught Connor everything he knew.
DAMOSA is hard! Its like that movie NOTHING TO LOSE….and DAMOSA would be the white guy that is not ROBBINS.
This policing situation is lame. I would talk to cops anytime i wanted to, IF they HAD a CAR!
Otherwise, the bicyclers are as irritating and useless as the next moper on the street. If these protesters are so pissed off, then when the JULIA HOUSE or other services REFUSE to assist them anymore…they can catatonically rot like the broke users they are.