Recounting personal experiences and watching video clips of fellow rally participants, Madison-area residents met Thursday evening to share their first-hand testimonials of police brutality during last week's Republican National Convention in New York City.
Of the gathering of several dozen, about a third had traveled to New York to participate in protests against the Bush administration. According to the group, the protest was the largest ever in response to a national party convention, breaking a record that had been in place since 1968.
\I [was] energized at the sight of this sea of humanity spread out before us in all directions,"" protest participant Daniel Daley said while describing the 500,000-strong crowd that gathered on Sunday, Aug. 29 for the United for Peace and Justice Protest March.
""One of the things I found interesting was the large range of events going on throughout the week,"" reporter Norman Stockwell said, referring to the art shows, animal rights demonstrations, veteran gatherings and speeches he witnessed.
However, some of the participants who stayed after Sunday to protest had experiences of a different kind.
UW-Madison sophomore Spike Appel, who traveled to the protest with several friends, told of how he was herded into a wall by police while peacefully demonstrating.
""We were on the sidewalks chanting 'Let us disperse,'"" Appel said. ""Then [the police] ran at us with batons. They dislocated my friend's shoulder, broke my other friend's rib.""
He said he was then detained without being charged for many hours with hundreds of others. Appel said no food or water was available during this time and individuals suffered injury resulting from being handcuffed for so long.
""We didn't get to see lawyers until after 24 hours, some not until after 50 hours,"" he said.
Appel added that some of those with whom he was detained developed rashes due to sitting on the floor of their surroundings.
""The floor was covered in some type of oil, some chemical,"" he said.
According to Daley, police were more subdued for the organized march on Sunday and only about 200 were taken custody. During the assorted protests of the following days, 1,700 were arrested. Several attendees of the meeting reported seeing a plethora of city buses hauling away the large number of arrested protesters.
""We [were] anxious to show the world, on media not yet beholden to the corporate behemoth, our message of hope, peace, and change,"" Daley read from a memoir he compiled from his experiences.
