Subject: Real Americans - this story will anger
you and warm your heart!
Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 15:17:52 -0600
Subject:
Letter from someone who stepped across the line at the School of the Americas.
Gladys Schmitz wrote:
I received this
from Sister Dorothy. She is a member of St. Stephens church in Minneapolis; the
writer of the following letter, Jack Neis, is also a member of her church. It is
good for us to know.
Gladys
My dear friends:
I was arrested last weekend during a
demonstration in Columbus, Georgia protesting the existence of the School of the
Americas; a school that is the symbol of the worst in this country's foreign
policy. I will most probably receive a six month sentence in federal prison.
Kate and I are adamant opponents of this school,
as most of you know. HOWEVER. This missive is not about the school. It is about
my experience the last few days: it is about the erosion of civil rights. I
would appreciate your attention. I think that you will find it interesting.
I was one of those fortunate to be in the
company of the people who "crossed the line" during the School of the Americas
Watch /SOAW demonstration at FortBenning. The charge we were arrested for is
trespassing. No property damage. No violence. No threats. It is a Petty
misdemeanor. In some states a petty misdemeanor is not even legally considered a
crime.
In the past, violators of this ordinance, including repeat
"offenders" were processed, arraigned immediately and released on their own
recognizance until their trial months later. Everyone knew that they could, and
repeaters expected that they would, receive a prison sentence. This year things
were a bit different.
As usual, our group of ninety-odd included some
seniors. (well into the seventies). Keep them in mind as I continue. We were
cuffed with plastic ties behind our backs, and taken to a processing area. We
were interrogated (no Miranda), printed, and photoed. At this point we expected
to be quickly arraigned, and released.
We were then turned over to the
US Marshal service. Again we were interrogated, fingerprinted and photoed.
Now it starts getting ugly.
(Remember: NONVIOLENT PETTY
MISDEMEANOR and we have not been convicted: therefore assumed not guilty of even
this charge. We can be HELD (not punished) for up to forty-eight hours.) They
put us in SHACKLES and LEG CHAINS for transportation to the Muskogee County
jail. Shackles are those things where your hands are locked in a fixture at your
waist fastened to a chain around your waist that you see on serial killers. With
leg chains you have to shuffle to walk.
At the jail, everything was
taken from us, and we were issued prison uniforms (short sleeved pajamas), one
blanket, a towel, and a plastic cup. Again we were interrogated, printed and
photoed. (No Miranda) Muskogee County has just dedicated a new jail. Apparently
there was no room in the new section: they led us back to the old jail for
"holding". It was dirty, rusty, and COLD. We wore our blankets constantly to
keep warm. The blanket was just barely long enough to cover for sleeping.
"Breakfast" was at 4:20 AM, and the "food" was despicable.
During the
entire time we were incarcerated, requests for medication were ignored.
All day Monday and Tuesday, the 34 men spent the entire day in a 12 x 15
room as we awaited arraignment. Picture that. The women spent the day in a
similar room. There were a lot more of them.
I was raised upper middle
class, went to a parochial grade school, Jesuit Prep high school, and Notre Dame
University. I spent five years in the Air Force as a flight instructor.
Beginning my career at Northwest Airlines, I was pretty much sure about
everything in life, as would most given that experience. Then I was laid off (it
turns out for almost nine years.) Given the job opportunities in 1970, I ended
up driving a city bus in Minneapolis. Those 3+ years gave me the greatest part
of my education. I learned about the lives of real folks. I got to know the
poor, the black and the red, and the unemployed. I learned that I really hadn’t
known much at all about people. This experience in jail was another such step.
My fellow cellmates included priests, college professors, students, Catholic
Worker volunteers, and even a couple who call themselves "full time activists".
You know, "those" people.
What a marvelous and diverse group of
men!!!!!! I was humbled by their experiences, and their lives of dedication to
their fellow human beings. As I was sitting Sunday night with some of them;
feeling the cold and the separation, my stomach twisted in a knot mostly from an
ignorance of what was to come, I looked up and said," I can’t think of anywhere
I’d rather
be right now than right here."
We sang together, we
"mantra"ed together in that crowded little room, slowly walking around in single
file as we intoned for the better part of half an hour. We could hear through
the walls the women singing loudly. We prayed together, we joked and we talked.
I was in awe considering my puny contributions to humanity, I felt somewhat
undeserving to be in their company.
The court arraignments dragged on. Although some
of us made personal statements, I believe most of them were shorter than a
minute. There was a constant repetition of our "rights" and the charges against
us. In spite of our attempts with our legal people to expedite the proceedings,
and therefore the release of those yet to come, the delays were unbelievable.
One woman late in the afternoon (after 4) was asked why she was shaking. The
courtroom was cold, and she had not been fed since 4:20 that morning. Everyone
else in the courtroom was wearing either heavy long-sleeved turtleneck shirts or
suit and tie. A good number of the spectators were
wearing their jackets and
sweaters. Another woman who was diabetic had had not only no food, but no meds
since arrest. The judge evidently thought it somehow entertaining to throw in
adolescent humor.
The proceedings lasted until just short of the 48 hour
deadline.
Finally came the last surprise. $5000 each for bail. High
school students, college students, unemployed, poor, rich, first timer or
repeater; whatever. Unprecedented! In the history of the SOAW, NO ONE has ever
not shown up for trial! The judge mentioned, "These are different
times"! I
know that I broke the law. I am ready and willing to take the consequences. I
will probably receive 6 months in federal prison. I do not agree with it, but I
knew the risks.
But evidently the word has come down from above.
Possibly from John Ashcroft himself. We have committed the most grievous of
crimes. We are attempting to bring attention to and to criticize our
government’s foreign policy, and we must be dealt with. In a nation founded on
Dissent, Dissent will not be tolerated. Make life for those protestors as
miserable as you
can.
Of course there’s also the chance that once in
jail, regardless of whether convicted, and regardless of for what, all persons
not only can, but should, be treated as animals. What would you think if you
were mistakenly arrested, held for 48 hours and were treated like this? Is this
sort of treatment OK?
Well, one of our number will be found innocent. He
was dragged onto the base by a soldier. He has many witnesses. Yet he received
the same treatment.
Michael Parenti has warned that wars are between the
rich and the poor. Poor countries don’t need government. Government is all about
money, and its purpose is to move it from the population to the rich. Laws are
written to protect the rich from the poor. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR AMOMENT! After
our foreign policy has made use of the backs and lives of the poor around the
world, the system will begin to attack and subjugate its own people. They need
only fear as a tool. I think it’s starting.
We are at a crucial point in
the history of this country. We must decide whether it should be an ally in a
world of nations, or an empire. Before you answer, find out what an empire is,
and who runs it.
George and his regime want to rule the world. Do you
want that? I didn’t say he wants the United States to rule the world. He is not
in this for us. There is always the possibility that he might actually think he
is. But if so, he is governing from a position of ignorance "...as would most
given that experience."
Sometimes you have to question what you have
always believed. It’s hard. It’s uncomfortable. It’s unnerving. And it can be
painful.
Believe me, I know.
Jack Neis POC
"Behind the ostensible government sits
enthroned an invisible government
owing no allegiance and acknowledging no
responsibility to the people. To
destroy this invisible government, to
befoul the unholy alliance between
corrupt business and corrupt politics is
the first task of the statesmanship
of the day." - Theodore Roosevelt, April
19, 1906
"And it seems to me perfectly in the cards that there will be
within the next
generation or so a pharmacological method of making people
love their
servitude, and producing... a kind of painless concentration camp
for entire
societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken
away from
them but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted
from any
desire to rebel by propaganda, brainwashing, or brainwashing
enhanced by
pharmacological methods." - Aldous Huxley, 1959
"There is
an evil which ought to be guarded against in the indefinite
accumulation of
property from the capacity of holding it in perpetuity by
corporations. The
power of all corporations ought to be limited in this
respect. The growing
wealth acquired by them never fails to be a source of
abuses." - James
Madison
