Summary: Thinking of holding protest meetings as part of your Reform America movement, perhaps with a little civil disobedience to demonstrate seriousness and attract media attention? That’s an American tradition going back to Thoreau. But that was the-America-that-once-was. It does not work so well with New America’s indifferent, apathetic public. And the police are pushing back hard, as usual (police bashing heads of reformers is another American tradition). Look at the protests in progress at Madison WI — formerly a stronghold of progressive politics in America. Brave dedicated people; indifferent results after 2+ years.
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Since 2011 people have been almost daily at noon gathered to protest the policies of Governor Scott Walker, most often singing or carrying signs in the Capitol rotunda. The near-daily Solidarity Singalong had been mostly peaceful for the more than two years (they occupied the Capitol building in February – March 2011).
Sometime in 2011 or early 2012 the WI Department of Administration imposed new rules requiring permits for groups smaller than 20 to protest in the Capitol building. ACLU attorney Larry Dupuis filed a challenge to the rules. In July Federal Judge William Conley temporarily barred police from enforcing the new rule until he makes a final ruling on the challenge early next year, but allowed the rule requiring permits for groups of 20+.
Early this year the Capitol Police began issuing citations to the protesters. None of the citations have been upheld in court, and the Department of Justice has chosen to drop many of the cases because the attorney general’s office has decided it could not obtain a conviction. {Wisconsin Public Radio, 12 April 2013}
Tensions have grown in recent weeks as police have cracked down on protesters for refusing to get a permit, with more than 300 people arrested. Also, the arrests have grown increasingly brutal, including use by police of the wonderfully named “pain compliance”, probably as informal street punishment.
For the rest of the story
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Press release
Madison Chapter, National Lawyers Guild
28 August 2013
According to attorneys who represent many of the more than 140 people arrested since July 24, the defendants have generally been polite and cooperative, and use of handcuffs and physical force has been far out of proportion to what police need to issue a civil forfeiture ticket. Most people arrested have been charged with participating in an “unlawful assembly” under the Wisconsin Administrative Code, which is not a crime and carries a maximum fine of $500.
… Two well publicized arrests of African Americans at the Solidarity Sing Along August 26 in the Wisconsin State Capitol showed Capitol Police officers using excessive force and pain compliance techniques. Christopher (C.J.) Terrell’s arms were wrenched behind him and police applied to pressure to the front and side of his neck to immobilize him, after he sat down during his arrest, then he was dragged out with arms pinned behind him. Six officers tackled Damon Terrell, pinned him to the marble rotunda floor, twisted his wrist, and carried him out in a prone position face down; he was later charged with felony assault of an officer although he appears to be the victim.
On August 21 a young woman was arrested using pain compliance as well.
{See the full text}
Next Steps by the government
These are just early days. If they have not already done so, police might infiltrate the protests with agents provocateur (see Wikipedia), to stir up trouble. This is an ancient and effective tactic.
We know that Governor Walker and his team have thought about it. From the conversation with Walker staged and recorded by Ian Murphy — pretending to be David Koch. From the transcript:
Murphy: We’ll back you any way we can. But, what we were thinking about the crowds was planting some troublemakers.
Walker: You know, the only problem with that — because we thought about that — … is if there was a ruckus caused that would scare the public into thinking maybe the governor has gotta settle to avoid all these problems.
For More Information
Videos of the Solidarity Sing-Along
Posts about protests:
- How to stage effective protests in the 21st century, 21 April 2009
- Occupy Wall Street, another futile peasants’ protest, 5 October 2011
- Thoreau reminds us about one of the few tools we have to control the government, 24 June 2013
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