cannabisnews.com: Cops Bust Cannabis Culture Journalist Cops Bust Cannabis Culture Journalist Posted by FoM on July 07, 2000 at 08:04:39 PT By Bianca Sind Source: DrugSense AMMA The thirtieth annual Fourth of July Smoke-Out in Washington, DC ended with an unexpected type of fireworks this year.The event began peacefully in Lafayette Park, a few hundred feet from the White House, at noon on a typically hot and humid July 4th. For three hours, the crowd of approximately 4,000 people heard a variety of speeches from cannabis activists, including NORML director Keith Stroup, Pot-TV's Miriam White, drug reform policy expert Kevin Zeese, and Yippie anarchist Dana Beal. Police were present, but did not enforce marijuana laws while the event was held at Lafayette Park. At approximately 3:30, however, the crowd began an orderly march south past the White House, eventually ending up in two large fields where event organizers provided quality musical acts and more speeches.Unfortunately, SWAT team police began moving through the crowd. They conducted illegal searches and seizures, used coercion and fear tactics against many of the younger members of the audience, pulled dozens of people out of the parks, and arrested several people.Cannabis Culture international correspondent Pete Brady, accompanied by CC videographer Chadman, began following police, recording their intimidating actions and challenging them. Brady took the stage and pointedly told police they were not welcome at the event, and instructed audience members to shadow the police and exercise free speech. Soon, dozens of courageous youth were surrounding police at every arrest site, shouting invectives and anti-drug war slogans.Police responded by threatening Brady and Chadman. They told the pair, along with other journalists and activists, that they would be punished for taking pictures and video of the arrests. Brady and New York activist Rob Robinson repeatedly informed police that journalists have a legal right to take pictures at public events. Police told Brady, Robinson and others that they would be harmed by police if they continued to take photos and voice their opinions about police actions.At 8:30pm, Brady was photographing another arrest; two officers told him to stop. Brady asked the officers if there was an official US Park Service policy governing photographer's access to photo opportunities. Suddenly, a large officer knocked Brady to the ground, and a group of officers swarmed on top of him.A crowd of approximately 200 people, many of them throwing rocks and bottles, surrounded the police, who continued to beat Brady as he lay motionless on the ground.Brady was dragged away, beaten again, and thrown into a paddy wagon. He was arrested and taken to DC General Hospital, and then to jail. NORML Director Keith Stroup, and Common Sense for Drug Policy Director Kevin Zeese visited the jail the next morning to help expedite Brady's release.Police stole Brady's cameras, reporter's notebooks and film. They also attacked his girlfriend and pried his tape recorder out of her hands.Brady has broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a concussion."This is the second time I have been arrested because I am a pot journalist," Brady said. "The first time was in 1999, when the pigs were trying to take down Steve Kubby. This time, I had no marijuana, and there are many witnesses who will testify how I was brutally assaulted by rogue cops without justification. My first priority is to heal my body. The charges that these criminals filed against me should be dropped. Then, I will work with the groups that sponsor this event to help ensure that police stay out of pot rallies from now on. I want to personally thank all who helped my partner and I during this incident. Please contact Cannabis Culture magazine if you saw what happened are willing to provide a witness statement."Related Article & Web Sites:DrugSense AMMAhttp://www.drugsense.org/amma/Pot-TVhttp://www.pot-tv.com/Cannabis Culture Magazinehttp://www.cannabisculture.com/Common Sense For Drug Policyhttp://www.csdp.org/NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Rally, March & Concert to End Marijuana Prohibitionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6262.shtmlCannabisNews Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabisnews.com.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #7 posted by wigga on May 24, 2001 at 12:21:51 PT police I H8 da po !!!!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Ed Forchion on July 08, 2000 at 21:12:34 PT: I was their I saw it! - The number's are a little high but i saw it! http://www.tlmp.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Mari on July 07, 2000 at 20:04:25 PT Police Action I listened to Dick Cowen interview Pete Brady on the 4:20 news on pot-tv tonight.Go to the archives and listen.Peace. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by dddd on July 07, 2000 at 14:36:54 PT *&#?*%^# GHASTLY!!!!....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on July 07, 2000 at 11:43:14 PT: Damn, I was lucky! I was one of those supposed 4,000 people who were present for the rally in Lafayette Park, and had commented to Doc-Hawk of MAPINC that it seemed the cops were indeed keeping a tactful distance from the crowd. (I play a little mental sharpness game when at such gatherings: Spot-The-Narc. Many of them were Black, one sporting cornrows, dressed shabbily and riding brand new bicycles. You could tell who they were by the fact they had radio/phones stuck in their back pockets and their badges clipped to their belts would sometimes make outlines under their tee-shirts. The really humerous thing was that because of my age and rather conspicuous tie-dye shirt, people thought *I* was a narc. Age discrimination sucks!)I have to say that I was very favorably impressed with the caliber of the speakers present; though in a somewhat sad way; they represented the victims of this stupid war. The mother of Todd McCormack was there. Kitty Tucker, the woman whose indoor garden was betrayed to police by her DARE addled daughter, was there, too. Professor Heicklen from U of PA was there; in his quietly impassioned way he made it abundantly clear as to what was at stake: whether we live as free citizens... or as slaves. And others, so many others I can't rememeber them all. Some were quiet, some angry, some profane... but all expressing an honesty you'll never hear from the mouthpieces of the ONDCP, who'd like you to think this is all some kind of intellectual chess game. The problem with this is that the 'pieces' on the board suffer and die becaiuse of their positions.Having participated in the march, I left about 4PM local time to head home. Little did I know I was leaving a potential war zone. But there were cop SUV's all around the perimeter of the area.If anyone else was there, would they please tell us what happened? I'd really like some other input. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Phillip Smith on July 07, 2000 at 10:58:55 PT: Peter Brady I've talked to some people involved in the Smoke-In, and they say it didn't happen as it was portrayed in the article. They say there were not 200 people throwing things at the cops. They say the extent of Brady's injuries was way exaggerated. We need to get more info on this. Still, the Park Police should be sued by Brady for arresting him for taking photos. That is an outrage in itself. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Kanabys on July 07, 2000 at 08:32:35 PT America at its BEST I'm truly dismayed at this s**t!!! What freakin freedom? HA! The mccrappie czar was probably watching out the window and said 'Sick 'em' to his swatdogs. This is headed in the wrong direction. I wouldn't be suprised if the next Pres is named Hister or Hitler or the like. This is truly familiar to a country far across the sea of yesteryear. Where's the outrage of the general public? Not just the protesters, but all of america? We can't even take pictures now, sheesh!!!(sorry I got a little outa control) I need a toke...... [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: