Eureka CA Torture of Young Environmental Activists

[asagady@sojourn.com]

  This is somewhat off-topic unless, of course, determined citizen
  activists on toxics/PCDD/PCDF happen to run
  into thug police like those in Humbolt County
  CA.
  
  For additional information on this controversy,
  see
  
  the news media section of 
  http://www.headwatersforest.org
  and the Earth section of 
  http://www.cnn.com
  
  ========================================
  
  ALL CITIZENS SHOULD CONDEMN
  POLICE TORTURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL/ANTI-LOGGING
  PROTESTORS IN EUREKA, CA
  
  I was shocked, horrified and disgusted after seeing
  the CBS Evening News on 10/30/97 which featured
  a news story showing police from the Eureka CA Police
  Department and the Humbolt County Sheriff's Department
  smearing liquid pepper agent into the eyes of young
  women using cue-tips.  These were protestors who
  were against the cutting of ancient redwood trees by Pacific Lumber
  Company/Charles Hurwitz.
  
  The heads of the protestors were pulled back and
  their eyes forcibly opened and then the agent,
  oleoresin capsicum (derived from cayenne pepper)
  was forcibly sprayed or smeared into their eyes.  This
  practice violates guidelines set by a variety of agencies,
  including the guideline that this agent not be used
  on non-violent prisoners.
  
  This police torture of young environmental protestors,
  who were in agony after this act, was brutal, sadistic,
  unconstitutional and shocking.   This is the kind of
  conduct you would expect from the secret police
  in China....not the United States.
  
  Now comes U.S. Rep. Frank Riggs defending this conduct
  in a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives
  on October 31, 1997.  And the police defend their
  action as "cost effective policing."
  
  Although these protestors were "tresspassing" in
  the office of Riggs, no American citizen should
  be treated in the manner these young women
  were treated.
  
  In an effort to catalyze national protest over this
  incident, here are some appropriate contacts and
  information concerning this horrific incident:
  
  Here is the URL of a Los Angeles Times article
  on the incident:
  
  http://www.latimes.com:80/CNS_DAYS/971031/t000098049.html
  
  Here is the URL of a Green Party Site in Humbolt
  CA with pictures of the brutality and additional
  detail and commentary concerning Rep. Frank
  Riggs endorcement of this brutality.
  
  http://www.illume.com/RiggsWatch/pepper/Welcome.html
  
  Here is a URL of an article on pepper spray from
  Covert Action Quarterly:
  
  http://www.worldmedia.com/caq/articles/pepper.html
  
  PLEASE TAKE SOME TIME TO PROTEST THIS SHOCKING
  INCIDENT!!!
  
  PROTEST TO THE PERPETRATORS OF TORTURE:
  
  Dennis Lewis, Sheriff
  Humbolt County Sheriff's Dept.
  826 Fourth St.
  Eureka CA 95501
  (707) 445-7251
  
  Arnold Millsap, Chief
  Eureka Police Department
  604 C Street
  Eureka CA 95501
  (707) 441-4044
  (707) 441-4334 (fax)
  eurekapd@northcoast.com
  
  
  PROTEST TO THE CONGRESSIONAL DEFENDER
  OF  POLICE TORTURE:
  
  U.S. Rep. Frank Riggs
  1714 Longworth House Office Bldg.
  Washington DC 20515
  (202) 225-3311
  (202) 225-3403 (fax)
  repriggs@hr.house.gov
  
  
  PROTEST TO THE COMMUNITY FOR
  THEIR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE ACTS
  
  Eureka Chamber of Commerce
  2112 Broadway
  Eureka, CA 95501
  (800) 356-6381 (Voice)
  (707) 442-3738 (Voice)
  (707) 442-0079 (Fax)
  
  
  ====================================
  This message is from:
  
  Alexander J. Sagady, Environmental Consultant
  PO Box 39, East Lansing, MI 48826
  (517) 332-6971; (517) 332-8987 (fax)
  asagady@sojourn.com
  
  
  
  ===============================
  
  FROM the NET....
  
  
  >  Here is a summary of the facts of the case, as set forth in our motion filed
  > yesterday:  [in federal district court in California]
  > Plaintiff Headwaters Forest Defense hereby moves ex parte for a temporary
  > restraining order enjoining all named defendants from using a chemical weapon
  > known as oleoresin capsicum, or pepper spray, on peaceful political
  > protesters in Humboldt County, California who pose no threat to the safety of
  > law enforcement officers or others.  This motion is made on the following
  > grounds:
  >  1. Despite the fact that standard law enforcement policies restrict the use
  > of this dangerous chemical to defensive measures when personal safety is
  > threatened and require that the substance be sprayed from a minimum distance
  > of two feet, Plaintiff's members who engage in small, peaceful protests and
  > who offer no resistance have been forced by Defendants on repeaaated
  > occasions within the last six weeks to suffer the application of this
  > searing, blinding chemical directly on their eyes: a practice unprecedented
  > in the annals of American law enforcement, which according to an experienced
  > expert constitutes "the purposeful application of premeditated torture to
  > human subjects by law enforcement officers."
  >  2. Defendants' policy and practice of applying pepper spray to peaceful,
  > unresisting demonstrators constitutes the excessive use of force in violation
  > of the Fourth Amendment and unlawfully restrains the exercise of Plaintiffs'
  > First Amendment right to freedom of political expression, as alleged in
  > Plaintiffs' complaint filed herewith pursuant to 42 U.S.C. x 1983.
  >  3. Defendants' use of pepper spray and its excruciating, incapaciting
  > effects on protesters are undisputed, as each such incident was recorded by
  > Defendants on videotape and this graphic evidence of gross police misconduct
  > is herewith presented to the Court.
  >  4. Defendants have failed and refused to stipulate to cease this practice
  > pending a motion for preliminary injunction.
  >  5. In light of this refusal to stipulate, and the existence of ongoing
  > protests in support of Plaintiff's sincerely held political beliefs,
  > Plaintiff and its members will be irreparably harmed by further unlawful use
  > of this chemical weapon unless a temporary restraining order is issued to
  > protect against this practice until the Court rules on Plaintiffs' proposed
  > motion for preliminary injunction.
  
  --------------
  
  >From an email sent to me by:
  Kirk Johnson
  newkirk@olywa.net
  
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  Alex J. Sagady & Associates        Email:  asagady@sojourn.com
  Environmental Consulting and Database Systems
  PO Box 39  East Lansing, MI  48826-0039  
  (517) 332-6971 (voice); (517) 332-8987 (fax)