http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/2/19/155659/800/272/699418I was assaulted at an Ann Coulter lecture last night. by bbsrock
Thu Feb 19, 2009 at 01:17:34 PM PST
Ann Coulter spoke at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ on Wednesday, 2/18. I am a student at the university and was in attendance. During the Q&A portion of the event, I asked a question that referred to a remark Coulter had made earlier in the evening. She said something along the lines of Republicans being justified in their attempts during the 2008 campaign to brand the Democratic party as soft on terror because its presidential nominee's middle name was Hussein.
So I asked Coulter if she meant to suggest that everyone with a Muslim sounding name should thereby be considered sympathetic to terrorists. She responded, "You can't possibly be that stupid," and went on to say something about Dan Quayle. In short, she did not address my question. I believe there is a video, which hopefully will be uploaded to YouTube soon.
After the event had concluded, she was signing books on stage. Here's where the story really begins.
bbsrock's diary :: ::
- snip -
Coulter, apparently startled by the commotion caused by the two officials, jumped backwards in her chair, as if she thought I was on the verge of attack. I suppose Coulter is used to that kind of threat, but it was certainly not my intention whatsoever. I did not lunge at her, nor yell anything at her; I only calmly walked up to her table. But, as it happened, I did not utter more than three words of my question before I was forcibly escorted to the end of the stage, led down the stairs, told "you're outta here", and again pushed in the direction of the building's exit without so much as a pause or an explanation.
Not allowing myself to be physically removed without even being able to comment on what was going on, I then began to walk in the opposite direction, back toward the center of the auditorium where I had been sitting and mingling with people after the lecture. The officer suddenly started to pull my coat and grab at my shoulders. Instinctively, I didn't simply allow him to do this, and kept moving forward. I did not resist, nor did I shove or strike the officer in any way. I simply started walking in a different direction. I was then tackled to the ground by the officer and surrounded by several others. It was impossible for me to tell how many of them were involved, because my face had just hit the ground head first. One officer restrained me to the floor by my legs, while another knelt on my head, with his knee crushing my face. He applied a considerable amount of body weight, and my head was pressed against the carpet. I have a relatively large abrasion on the left side of my head and on my left ear. Here is a photo. At this point, I was handcuffed.
I was then literally thrown out of the building via an emergency exit located right across the aisle. I again hit the ground, this time the grass. My glasses flew off my face. I'm very nearsighted, so I could not see much of what went on throughout the rest of this ordeal. Several times I asked for my glasses back and the officers either brushed me off, made some kind of joke, or flat-out refused. When asked why, their explanations were, "Because I said so." and "Because that's the way it is."
Not allowing people under arrest to see what's going on is "the way it is?".
Lying in the grass, my handcuffs were secured and I was then brought to my feet. As I was being escorted from the side of Kendall to the police car parked out front, the officers hurled insults at me, some very vulgar and provocative. Among the names I was called were "fucking asshole", "faggot," and "shithead." I later asked an officer if this was appropriate language to be using while on the job. He said, "I didn't learn it in the Academy." I said, "I'd hope not", to which he replied, "I learned it from dealing with assholes like you." These types of remarks continued for the duration of the encounter.
I was thrown into the back of a police car, with the handcuffs digging into my wrists. They had been put on incorrectly; one of them was twisted, squeezing both my wrists and resulting in some near-excruciating pain at certain points. As of the next day, my hands are still irritated and bruised.
An officer drove me to the campus police station. Another opened the door when we parked outside the building. I had trouble getting out of the car at first, so an officer yanked my foot out the door. I noticed something fell out of my pants pocket, and asked an officer if he could check what it was. My request was ignored. I was shoved and jeered by an officer as I made my way out of the car and toward the station. Inside was white detention room, I was seated on a bench. The officers came in now and then to make jokes or outright mock me. One said, "I bet you were planning this for weeks. You're one of those guys that will throw shoes at Obama." That statement was laughable on so many levels, but I ignored it.
One officer came in to try to argue with me about the course of events that night, and accused me of "faking" everything that happened. I again requested my glasses, to no avail. A few minutes later I asked that my handcuffs be taken off, because they were very painful and I was clearly not a security threat. The officer said he would do that. He left the detention room, and then came back a short time later with what appeared to be a key. He instructed me to slide to my right, which I did. The officer then leaned down toward my handcuffs, and I thought that he was taking them off. But instead, as if to say "screw you," he chained my handcuffs to a small metal loop on the bench. I was now completely immobile. The officer laughed as he left the room. I could hear other officers in a different room laughing with him.
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