protest

So did anyone else see about 50 or 75 people in orange t-shirts marching down Pearl St. near 13th Avenue at about 6:30 or so Saturday night?

I wasn't sure if they were protesting, rallying or what, but some of them were shouting "Sí se puede!" the rallying cry for the United Farmworkers. It gets used by other people too (notably Barack Obama's English version, "Yes, we can!" and even more notably Jim Torrey's lame co-option of the phrase: "Yes, Eugene, we can!").

Anyone know who they were and what it was about? By the time I raced back over there with notepad and camera they were gone (and I ALWAYS have my pad and camera on me, but of course, not just then...)

News of the May 30th Tasering of UO student and pesticide protestor Ian Van Ornum has made its way to the Organic Consumers Association and they are not happy .

Van Ornum was Tasered while rallying to call attention to the use of pesticides on Oregon highways. The OCA is providing a letter for people to sign and send to the Eugene Police Department. The letter cites Taser-death statistics from Amnesty International (277 deaths since 2001). The EPD has a history with the human rights group — the Eugene police were accused of “torture” about 10 years ago after excessive use of pepper spray against a protestor .

On another note, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (and Suzi who is up on science fiction references), the word "Taser" comes from a kid's book series: Tom Swift. Taser is the first letters in the phrase: Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle.

On a kinder gentler literary note, Tom Swift also originated the "tom swifty," which is a kind of Wellerism in which a quoted sentence becomes a kind of pun through its adverbial attribution.

Examples:

"We must hurry," said Tom swiftly.
"I have a split personality," said Tom, being frank.

A Eugene example might be:

"I'm going to Tase you!" said the policeman shockingly.

Local activist and videographer Tim Lewis has posted video and stills of Eugene police tasering a protester at a May 30 rally downtown against pesticides.

Citizens have organized two gatherings in support of the “Kesey Three” arrested at the rally in front of the author’s statue.

The first is planned for Thursday, June 5 from 12-3 pm at the UO’s EMU Amphitheater.

The second is a “silent” event planned for Saturday, June 7 in Kesey Square at Willamette and Broadway at 12 noon. “Many will have an ‘X’ painted over their mouths or will be wearing tape over their mouths as a statement of how the police are trying to silence free speech with their violence,” an email announcement states.

The events are organized by Crazy People for Wild Places , a UO student group. The group is gathering photos and media links about the taser incident here .

Witnesses alleged police brutality after Eugene officers tasered a protester at a peaceful anti-pesticide rally today downtown and arrested three people.

About 40 citizens and 10 police officers showed up for the noon rally Friday, May 30 at the Broadway and Willamette plaza. Numerous citizen witnesses alleged that police threw UO student Ian Van Ornum, 19, to the ground, pulled his hair, kneed him in the back, ground his face into the pavement and shocked him repeatedly in an act of unjustified brutality.

“I believe that’s torture,” protester Josh Schlossberg said. Schlossberg said he did not see Van Ornum do anything illegal or that justified the arrest. “They repeatedly tasered him after he was down,” he said. “I did not see him resisting.”

“When he was on the ground fully restrained, they tasered him three times,” said protester Mary Stevens, adding that the city should be sued.

“They were dragging him by the hair,” said Amy Pincus Merwin. “They ground his face into the ground with a knee on his back.”

“They were beating him,” said Carly Barnicle, who helped organize the rally with Van Ornum. She said Van Ornum is a very peaceful person and was doing nothing illegal or resisting and asking, “why, why, why” while police assaulted him.

The Eugene Police Department issued a press release describing their version of what happened at the “otherwise peaceful” rally. The EPD alleged that Van Ornum “was blocking and impeding traffic” and holding a sprayer. EPD alleged that when contacted by an officer, Van Ornum “raised the [sprayer] wand toward the officer asking, ‘Do you want poison in your face?’” When officers “began to escort him across the street,” the EPD alleged Ornum “began fighting with the officers” and the officers arrested him “with the assistance of a taser” for “resisting arrest” and “disorderly conduct.”

Numerous citizens that witnessed the event said that Van Ornum was not doing anything illegal, fighting with officers or resisting arrest. They said the sprayer at the rally against pesticides was only water and used at previous events as a protest prop.

The EPD alleged that “a crowd of 25 to 30 people began to converge” on the arrest scene. EPD alleged that Anthony Farley, 22, “swung his fists at the officers” and arrested him for alleged “assault, interfering with a police officer and disorderly conduct.”

The EPD alleged that David Owen, 50, “ran at the officers in an attempt to interfere with the arrest.” The EPD arrested Owen alleging “interfering with a police officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.”

Numerous citizen witnesses said that Farley and Owen shouted their disapproval of the arrest along with others but did not assault officers or resist them or interfere with them or do anything illegal.

“We started yelling shame on you” and “don’t hurt him,” Merwin said.

“They said they would taser me if I stepped any closer,” said Barnicle.

Stevens said police refused to provide information on how to file a complaint.

Merwin said she has contacted the police auditor’s office to file an official complaint.

Lisa Arkin of the Oregon Toxics Alliance said she attended the rally but left before the taser incident. Arkin said it appeared that the police “purposely waited” until some of the older attendees and press had left.

Arkin said the rally focused on praising efforts by the state, city and county to limit pesticide use and was carefully organized by UO students. “These were not kids looking to cause a problem.”

The incident comes at a time of rising tension between the police and Eugene citizens.

The police union recently taunted a progressive city councilor online with an ugly caricature and a “she’s baaaack” quote from a horror movie. The union opposed councilor Bonny Bettman’s successful effort to create an independent police auditor and citizen review board to investigate complaints against officers.

Citizens criticized the police attack against a councilor and a previous written attack by the police union against an anti-global warming song at the Mayor’s state of the city speech as expressions of hate directed at the city’s liberal community. Police defended their rhetoric as free speech.

Protesters at the pesticide rally said police used a taser and violence to violate their free speech at the environmental protest.

Eugene police recently changed their policy to arm officers with tasers with few binding restrictions on their use. Where previously the EPD rarely used batons or guns to arrest subjects, the department has begun using tasers on a regular basis, always, they allege, with justification.

Tasers fire 50,000-volts into victims causing violent pain. Nationally, the controversial weapon has been linked to more than 70 deaths and hundreds of lawsuits and complaints
of police abuse.

Police tasered Ian Van Ornum (left) at an environmental rally he organized with Carly Barnicle (right). Photo is from a May 22 EW story on the planned rally.

Below is David Owen's photo from a 2006 EW story about people protesting rural herbicide use.

No, seriously, this is a short and unfunny one. Because sometimes the news ain't funny. OK, except for one.

1. Bombs kill. Death toll still rising after attacks. Oh, and although some (*cough*Britain*cough*) sort of want to get out of Iraq, France wants to become an "honest broker" in the country. Someone has to do something that doesn't involve killing, I guess. Because soldiers are psychologically conditioned to kill.

2. Republicans revel in making others grovel. I don't think that's just a Cali thing either.

3. Leaders like to be deciders. This means they sometimes rebel when their puppetmasters try to tell them what to do or how (or when) to do it.

4. Deciders don't like journalists. Especially after pro-democracy demonstrations.

5. Deciders don't like protesters. And have manuals on how not to see them.
Not that they're worried or anything. But the White House evidently leaves little to chance when it comes to protests within eyesight of the president. As in, it doesn't want any.

6. The funny one: Crocs are ugly! But popular! In case you hadn't noticed them, or all of those little things you can put in their holes, the Christian Science Monitor tells you all about the shoes and their devotees. (And their detractors.)

BONUS: "Dwarf's penis gets stuck to vacuum cleaner"