Part 1: The “Arrest” (or kidnapping)
The story of my arrest is ironic at best. After exhausting myself with my volunteer work the past few months I decided to take a few days away from the cell and email. So when Josh and I left for Maplewood for his court date, I left my camera and cellphone at home. How many times have I said you should ALWAYS be armed with a camera? Yeah, listen to me eat those words through this story.
We arrived at the Maplewood courthouse and there was a line out the door. Maybe 45 people standing in the late dusk dark. Josh got out of the car and I parked it. When I arrived. It was cold, I regretted only wearing a hooded sweatshirt and the infant in line in front of us had tears on her cheeks because of the wind. It was misting on and off that entire day. Every one’s court time said 6:30, yet we were standing outside despite the ticking clock and colder/darker surroundings.
In line folks joked about leaving a note on the door that said “we arrived to our appointment at the schedule time, where were you?”. Or “Its 7:15 sorry we missed you”. Everyone in line that we spoke to were there over a traffic violation – lots of unregistered plates (all citing they could not afford property tax on the car, yes, that’s right, the state of Missouri taxes us hundreds of dollars per year to own a car, AFTER we’ve paid sales tax on it. Sucks), lots of failure to pay for car insurance (maybe if they didn’t have to pay property tax they could afford insurance!), almost everyone had been pulled over to or from work.
They let about 15 people into the courthouse and the group moved forward. We all stepped up onto the patio area where it was lit so we didn’t have to stand on the dark sidewalk (there was room now that the others went in). A police officer came out and started demanding the folks line up against the wall. I was talking to a girl a few years my junior about the situation, who I later learned is named Kimberly. I said “Line up, show us your papers, give us your money; Welcome to the New America”. The officer heard me say that and asked me to repeat it. I repeated the comment and he walked toward me asking “does any body have a leash for her, if so put it on her”. Kimberly, the girl I was talking to, shouted, “Did you seriously just say that? Are you implying she’s a bitch?”. The officer then walked up to us and said, “do you want to go to jail tonight”? I asked “for what”, he said, “I will make something up”. I turned and asked the crowd if they had just heard that. They responded in chorus, yes! and he then repeated “I will make something up!” – Kimberly was saying something while this was going on (it was inaudible to me), he turned to her and said, “I know who you’re here with I have something for you” and pointed right at Kimberly – she said, “What are you threatening me?!?” – he walked back inside.
When he came back out he walked up to me and said I had two minutes to leave or he would arrest me. I said on what charges, you said you would make something up! I told him he had no right to make me leave as I had done nothing wrong and that he was supposed to be upholding his oath the to Constitution and protecting my first amendment instead of trying to take it from me.
When he walked inside I grabbed a pen and piece of paper and wrote down that I had just been told I would be arrested on made up charges and handed it to Josh and asked him to have the crowd sign it if he came back out. I asked everyone if they would support me if I stayed and the crowd said yes. A few said it was not worth it, but I told them I had to stand my ground and exercise my constitutional right to SPEAK!
Three officers, in violation of my first amendment protection of speech, ran out onto the patio, surrounded me, lifted me by my right arm as it was twisted behind me and slammed me into the railing. Kimberly started shouting things like she’s “just a girl” and “you dont’ have to hurt her like that”. While the officer cuffed me, another pointed a taser gun at Kimberly’s chest (I later found out Kimberly has had a heart attack previously). Kimberly told he cop, “you will NOT use lethal force against me”. She left the grounds of the courthouse in fear that she would be further attacked.
At this point I was escorted to a cop car – the entire time I asked repeatedly why I was being arrested and if he had taken an oath to the Constitution and if he understood that he was violating my first amendment.
I was put in the car where I spent the entire time with my face in the ear of the cops talking about the Constitution and OathKeepers.org – the officer in the passenger seat told me he “did not remember if he took an oath to the Constitution”.
They put me in a holding cell by myself at first. I did not stop talking about the Constitution and how they could not take my right to speak freely away, I chose to assert that right despite the cuffs and bars.
I was wrongfully arrested for saying something the officer did not like, that was bad enough, I will summarize my experience in jail in part 2 and you will see with absolute certainty that our “justice” system has become a mechanism for the state to extract money from the peoples by force. And they literally do think of us as animals (evident by the leash comment).
Here are all the sections of the Missouri Constitution that were violated during my arrest and bailing proceedures. Many more were broken during my time in their cage.
Article 1 Section 2: That all Constitutional government is intended to promote the general welfare of the people, that all persons have a natural right to life, liberty and the pursuit to happiness and the enjoyment of the gains of their own industry… To security to these things is the principle office of government and that when the government does not confer the security, it fails in its chief design.
Article 1 Section 8: …..Every person shall be free to say write or publish or otherwise communicate whatever he will on any subject…
- I was told to leave the property of the Maplewood Courthouse in violation of my god given, constitutionally protected, 1st amendment right to practice free speech. I was subsequently put in a cage like an animal for refusing to obey an unlawful and unconstitutional order.
Article 1 Section 9: People have the right to peaceably assemble for the common good and to apply to those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances by petition or remonstrance.
-The comment I made was reflective of the sentiments of the entire crowd forced to stand outside in the cold, dark wind. We did not chose to assemble there, but we were peaceful and expressing our grievances vocally.
Article 1 Section 10: That no person be deprived of life, liberty or pursuit of happiness without due process of law.
-Maplewood police attempted to deprive me of my liberty (free speech) by violating their oath to the Constitution and arresting me for refusing to obey an unlawful order after that same officer said he would “make up charges” to arrest me, they also deprived me of my liberty by putting me behind bars and preventing me from pursuing happiness by putting me in a cage. I was never told what I was arrested for. My mother was told I would not be charged at all, yet held for 24 hours. The Maplewood police at one point apparently had the intention of holding an innocent person behind bars without pressing charges for an entire day.
Article 1 Section 20: That all persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties except for capitol offenses when the proof is evident or the presumption great.
Section 21: That excessive bail should not be required nor excessive fines imposed nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.
- I was voluntarly in line at court to accompany someone else, there was no reason to beleive I would not show up to my court date. A bail of $750 when you were not only entertaining the idea of not event charging me at all, but telling my family and friends that there would be no charges, seems quite excessive. Also considering the bail set for my boyfriend who had three charges was only $500.
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