Archive | September, 2004

1 More U-C IMC Reporter Released from Custody; Most Detainees May Be Released Soon

I just got off the phone with the IMC and they tell me that one of the female reporters was released just about 20 minutes ago. Now they’re waiting for the last two. They haven’t called the IMC, but we do know that they’ve recently talked to their parents, indicating that they’re still OK.

According to NYC IMC a judge ordered that one group of arrestees is to be released before 1 AM tonight, and that anyone charged with a citation or midemeanor is to be released before 9 AM. The NYC DA has filed an appeal to this order that may or may not be heard before 1 AM.

The legal team is confident that the judge will rule in favor of the writ. In which case, they will have to start releasing everyone. NYC IMC also notes that a judge is currently on his/her way to Pier 57 to determine whether or not conditions there are suitable for detention.

There are legal observers and medics waiting outside of central booking as a crowd cheers when people are released. Medics are treating minor injuries and helping people get cleaned up. There is discussion about lawsuits over the pre-emptive arrests and the ugly conditions of Pier 57.

A caller to the IMC reports that there is a growing police presence at Central Booking as the crowd of released persons and supporters grows.

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5 Urbana-Champaign IMC Reporters Arrested in NYC, 2 Released

This is an example of how pre-emptive arrests by the NYPD could hit at any moment, even at the most peaceful of marches and actions.

Yesterday afternoon five reporters from the U-C IMC were at the War Resisters March, starting at Ground Zero and planned to go to Madison Square Garden for a die-in. Just a few blocks into the march, the police ordered marchers to go double-file on the sidewalk. Marchers complied, but then police pulled out the orange mesh barriers and penned in about 200 of them. After about an hour, modified city buses were pulled up and everyone was arrested.

Urbana IMC volunteers have been at the IMC taking phone calls from reporters in NYC since Sunday, recording the calls and posting text summaries and the audio to the U-C IMC website. So, yesterday’s summary reflects the sequence of the arrest as U-C IMC reporters called in.

All of the arrested reporters were hauled off to Pier 57, which is a former bus depot turned into a holding tank, now nicknamed “Guantanamo on the Hudson.” By all reports, the floor of the depot is coated thick in old oil and engine waste, which detainees are forced to sleep in . There are reports of people breaking out in rashes after being released.

Using a smuggled-in cell phone, two U-C IMC reporters called in reports this morning from Pier 57. You can listen to Sarah’s and Zach’s descriptions of the conditions.

The two male reporters were released around 5 PM CDT today. They were charged with disorderly conduct and parading without a permit and released ACD (Adjourned considering Dismissal). Zach called in a full and detailed report of the whole experience which you can listen to.

Unforunately, the three female reporters who were arrested have not yet been released. Volunteers are still staffing the IMC waiting for word of their release.

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