J Iddhis Bing
One of the 2,000 people arrested during the Republican National Convention in New York City. Photo: Susana Bates, NY Daily News.
On August 31, 2004, I was arrested in New York City. I spent the next three days in a variety of holding pens and cells before getting shoved out the door of the Tombs into the bright September sunlight. Nothing so remarkable about that – it happens to people all across America all the time.
The only difference being that approximately 2,000 other people went along with me on that fateful journey. We were either protesting or simply standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was the Republican National Convention and the police were practicing what they call “sweeps,” preventive arrests of potential troublemakers.
The case has now been settled, nearly ten years later. The tortuous legal process is another story entirely. Let’s just say that New York City fought tooth and nail every step of the way, and they paid their lawyers very good money to block any request for information, any revelations about police intelligence gathering. For almost ten years a hard white wall of legal manoeuvers kept the arrestees from their day in court.
The case will never go to trial. The wall gave way; the city settled. The Guardian asked me for my memories of the time and a few post-facto opinions on what happened. You can read it here.
Iddhis Bing was born and raised in New York. He currently lives in Paris where he writes about culture and politics in Europe. He is raising funds for a trip to Greece on Indiegogo. Happy New Year!