Gibson writes: "The Capitol Police have repeatedly violated every part of the oath taken by all law enforcement, are an unnecessary burden on Wisconsin taxpayers and should be abolished."
22 year old Damon Terrell is arrested while taking pictures of a protest in the Wisconsin Capital Rotunda. (photo: Segway Jeremy Ryan)
The Wisconsin State Capitol Police Should Be Abolished
27 August 13
"On my honor, I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character, or the public trust. I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. I will always uphold the constitution, and will remain loyal to my community and the agency I serve." -Law Enforcement Oath of Honor
've written twice explaining the ridiculous lengths Wisconsin State Capitol Police are willing to go to arrest people for singing without a permit. But on August 26th, the Capitol PD escalated it even more, from merely arresting singers and observers to violently attacking them. This excessively antagonistic behavior exhibited when responding to nonviolent protests is only made worse by the department's chief and top deputy both getting questionably large raises in the midst of the crackdown. The Capitol Police have repeatedly violated every part of the oath taken by all law enforcement, are an unnecessary burden on Wisconsin taxpayers and should be abolished.
Since July 24, State Capitol Police Chief David Erwin has been ordering the daily mass arrests of singers in the capitol rotunda, issuing over 300 citations for "unlawful assembly." In a 40-page ruling in mid-July, a federal judge threw out the Walker administration's rules that groups larger than four require a permit to assemble in public spaces. Judge Conley also wrote in detail about how the Wisconsin state capitol has traditionally been used as a public forum for the people to meet and peaceably air their grievances to their government without fear of arrest or intimidation. Article 1, Section 4, of the Wisconsin State Constitution prioritizes the rights of free speech and free assembly as fundamental rights of every citizen of the state. By arresting nonviolent dissenters for exercising their constitutional rights, Chief Erwin has betrayed the law enforcement oath, failing to uphold the constitution.
Since Judge Conley isn't ruling until January 2014 on new restrictions that forbid groups larger than 20 from assembling without a permit, Chief Erwin is using the lack of judicial precedent to arbitrarily arrest any participant in the Solidarity Singalong. Arrestees have included a sitting city alder, a school board member, two firefighers, teenagers, grandmothers, teachers, journalists, mothers with small children, and many others. On August 26th, two brothers, 25-year-old CJ and 22-year-old Damon Terrell, were both violently arrested in a shocking display of police brutality previously unseen in the state capitol. Even local TV stations have dedicated editorial time to criticizing the Capitol Police Department for "overkill."
This video clearly shows police arresting CJ Terrell for singing. He sits down and refuses to cooperate with an illegal arrest, asking instead for his citation to be issued in the rotunda rather than going through the process of being handcuffed and processed in the capitol basement. His younger brother, Damon, was taking pictures and observing when Capitol Police advanced on him. In the video, you can see him backing away with his hands up before four officers tackle him to the ground without provocation. One officer claimed he was injured while arresting Damon, and Damon is being tentatively charged with felony battery of an officer. At the time of this writing, Damon is still being held in Dane County Jail without bond. While some local media chose to only get the DoA's account of what happened, several eyewitness accounts, including my own, attest that Damon's arresting officer got a small cut on his arm from a reporter's watch as he lunged after Damon, whom he decided to blame for the small injury. Through his brutal means of enforcement, Erwin has failed the oath he and his department swore to uphold.
Chief Erwin has also directly contradicted Department of Administration policy when it comes to the arrests of singers who don't have a permit. When asked in December of 2011 whether or not violators of the permit policy would be arrested, former DoA spokeswoman Jocelyn Webster said, "There's a fundamental misunderstanding of this policy if there was a belief arrests were going to stem from this policy." She was also quoted in a different report saying, "No one is going to be arrested for not being in compliance with the permit policy. It's kind of funny that anybody even thinks that they would be. The standard by which law enforcement will take law enforcement action remains the same." By violating the policy of the agency that oversees his department, Chief Erwin has violated the law enforcement oath, refusing to hold himself or his deputies accountable for their actions.
Chief Erwin was appointed to head the capitol police by Governor Scott Walker after former chief Charlie Tubbs was forced out and shifted to a new position as Dane County Emergency Manager. Many Republicans in Wisconsin were upset at Tubbs' humane treatment of the protesters who occupied the state capitol in early 2011, when he made the decision to talk and reason with the protesters instead of arresting them all and throwing them out. Erwin and the Walker Department of Administration, which oversees the capitol police, are now under scrutiny after it was reported that Erwin and his top deputy, Dan Blackdeer, all engaged in a bureaucratic shell game to circumvent state rules against hefty, spontaneous pay raises for specific individuals.
While Walker gave all public employees a 1% raise this year, he moved Erwin and Blackdeer to two "phantom jobs" within the DoA for just one day, then moved them back to their old positions with double-digit pay raises. Chief Erwin now makes over $111,000 a year, $720 of which was retroactive. Some Wisconsin state legislators have called for an investigation into the pay increases to see if they followed state rules, which forbid retroactive pay increases for public employees.
Exhibit A in the Kissick v. Huebsch lawsuit filed by the ACLU showed that roughly 90% of all arrests ordered by Chief Erwin were dismissed in court. This is clear evidence that Erwin is not only costing the state more tax dollars through his unjustified and excessive salary increase, but also in superfluous court costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars, incurred through Erwin's unlawful suppression of dissent. In gaming the state out of money for an unjustified raise, Chief Erwin has violated the law enforcement oath by betraying the public trust. Erwin should be fired, and the Capitol Police Department should be abolished.
I'm not saying to do away with police protection for elected officials conducting the state's business. But just as the Wisconsin Department of Administration, which oversees the capitol building and the state capitol police, contracts with the City of Madison Fire Department and EMT services, there's no reason they can't also contract with the Madison Police Department for any law enforcement needs.
University of Wisconsin Police Chief Sue Riseling summed it up best in her testimony at a July public hearing on the DoA's permitting rules.
"It is more important that the principles of democracy remain healthy, than it is for a building interior to remain quiet."
Carl Gibson, 26, is co-founder of US Uncut, a nationwide creative direct-action movement that mobilized tens of thousands of activists against corporate tax avoidance and budget cuts in the months leading up to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Carl and other US Uncut activists are featured in the documentary "We're Not Broke," which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. He currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin. You can contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and follow him on twitter at @uncutCG.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
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In the 60s, the Black Panthers had the right name for them -- "pigs."
Something "BIG" could be anything???
It was handed over to me, while I was investigating/p repping a formal request for DOJ investigation of egregious police torture/brutali zation of peaceful peace demonstrators who, with parade permit in place, were wearing the green shirts with peace signs on them, and carrying peace signs in the 2007 St. Patrick's Day Parade (Google: Colorado Springs Independent, Jan. 10, 2010, "No Peace or Justice").
What got handed to me was the transcript of a speech given here in Colorado Springs (super fusion center of the nations now over seventy fusion centers, from where local authorities are given orders on what to do and how to do it to all we the sheeple) at the Northern Command Center.
The F.B.I. biggie spoke and outlined who now is considered a 'terrorist': peace and justice activists (a.k.a. anarchists), environmental activists, animal rights activists, etc. And, under the anything but patriotic Patriotic Act, the govt. agents can now quash, with no penalization, all constitutional rights and rule of law.
Great St. Michael Moore, the Irish devil (takes one to know one) said it best:
"DUDE, WHERE'S MY COUNTRY?"
The answer to his and all our similar questions: gone bye bye, and no longer anything but a democracy, but rather a...
POLICE STATE AIN'T GREAT!
I have just one question for the Wimps, How is that Hopei, Changie working out for you so far?
No matter how many AR-15s (or even the secret stashes of far more powerful arms) we, the people may have, there is no defense against a SWAT team in an armored personnel carrier, wearing Category IV body armor and armed with automatic weapons and grenades.
And if the police state feels your resistance could be substantial, then there will be no battering ram at your door. A couple of Hellfire missiles will guarantee your right to remain silent.
I'm not sure why you are gettin' all these thumbs-down.
They should all be put under citizen's arrest (remember that folks) and paraded around town before being pilloried then jailed at the people's pleasure.
Recall of Walker and his Goons didn't work the last time -narrowly, thanks to the huge injection of funds by the likes of the Koches, so stronger measures are called for!
To the barriers!
But, I remember Madison WI as the place where, in 1969, factions within the Peace Movement traded the righteousness of pacifism for the self-righteous egoism of violence.
The power of violence is fleeting; it is known only by the victor, and only until that victor is himself conquered. And conquest is inevitable. "He who lives by the sword," and all.
The power of nonviolence, however, is secure; it is felt by all who witness it, and lives on in their souls, and so is inevitably made manifest time and time again.
Would the legends of Jesus have been told and retold for two thousand years if He'd been just another leader of a failed Jewish revolt? Would Martin Luther King Jr. be revered in D.C. today if he'd been one of the many Black Panthers assassinated by the police?
Pacifism lasts. It spreads. It's infectious. Think of it as a blessed virus.
Under common law, any law-abiding citizen may make a citizen's arrest on witnessing a felony. Assault while in possession of a weapon is a felony, and all law enforcement officers are armed. So....bring your own zip ties and pepper spray, and when the police get out of hand, arrest them.
This will lead to retaliation and arrests, especially at first. But it will attract notice. The more cameras running, the better. They can't arrest or beat all of us--long before that, the court of public opinion will put an end to this nightmare.
YEAH! . . . Right
How much do you think these comments from the safety of your computer is going to change anything?
As Wisconsin goes, so goes the nation. I've said for 2 years that the Kochs, et al, are using the formerly progressive WI as their Petri dish for experimentation with operation Demolish Democracy. Yet, federal lawmakers and other elected officials have been largely silent. Yet another reason I criticize the DNC every chance I get.
Oh almost forget, they basically did do that with Manning, two years in solitary confinement and much of it naked. I'm surprised he is still almost sane. So much for Obama the Wimp and his transparent administration.
The whole point of non-violence is to get arrested for boolsjit issues until rule-enforcemen t collapses under the logistical load.
Believe me, as soon as cops start to find out that child molesters and such ilk are being released to make room for a bunch of noise makers. They will start to question the wisdom of their orders.
That is what you are out to accomplish! Have the muscle question the brains until humanity sets in.
Take pride in your arrest, it will prove to be worthwhile in the long run. Because you are now on record to have stood up for your principles.
Now it has apparently become a shit hole, seething with viciousness.
What happened, Wisconsin?
Someone mentioned the thuggery of the Nazi browshirts. German citizens chose to live in denial, resignation and complancency.
I received this two days a go from my daughter in Madison, Wisconsin who is a good activist chip off the ol' anti-reaction block.
Scott Walker is now more than ever a goon-squad leader for the appalling Koch Bros' cleverly titled but fooling nobody but those who want to be fooled or cajoled into thinking that they are included, "Americans for prosperity (For some)" -my insertion.
I believe that there are LOCAL CHAPTERS all over the country -including where I live. They tend to work from the shadows and put a velvet glove over the leaden fist, so watch out for these charlatans and finks. All they want is EVERYTHING for an elite chosen club, it's patsies in the owner-media and it's "Clipes" (a Scottish Border word signifying spies, agents provocateurs, finks or betrayers of their own, which should be spat out with top spin on it when spoken, like a toxic projectile vomit you need to get rid of), it's ultimate goal being penury or slave status for the rest of us with no regard for the planet's well-being and stewardship.
Of course, it just fine for a Totalitarian mentality like Walker's to carefully select and appoint his own personal Gestapo or S.S., (A bit like the Dimwits crowd had the former theocracy-seeki ng 'Blackwater" almost serving as the highly-paid Palace Guard) whilst cutting back on a social programs and spitting in the face of his state's history as a former labor union stronghold.
My daughter tells me (from Madison) that the Koches poured millions into bussing reactionary shills into Wisconsin from neighboring states -I think that this was featured on "Democracy Now!"-, providing them with in transit meals into the bargain -I don't know about booze-, providing them with voter's ID.
Also that the big agra and it's cowed farmers from the rest of the state were propagandized into blocking Walker's recall -yet it was a close thing, which shows that it IS possible but also that the money-in-politi cs always tilts results in the favor of the real owners of the country and their state subalterns.
Also to be frank, the Dems put up a very weak and non-combative candidate against the main goon! They could have used an Al Franken in his place and it might have been a different outcome.
Suddenly, a cloud of tear gas began to roll down the street. Immediately, a phalanx of riot-gear wearing police charged down the street, clubbing kids, knocking them to the ground. As I stood there, stunned and frozen in place, I saw a cop walk up to a "hippy chick," also standing still in shock, and club her across the side of her head.
Some of us fought back. "The Mifflin Street Riot" of 1969 lasted for some 3 days.
Soon after I saw a change in the signage made by young members of The Movement. Previously, there were "Make Love, Not War," and "War Is Not Healthy For Children And Other Living Things."
The new signs read "To love, we must live. To live we must survive. To survive, we must fight."
Soon there was "The Days of Rage" in Chicago. Soon there was the Weather Underground and "Bring the War Home" bombings.
The Peace Movement gained the self-righteous power of self-defense on that day. But lost the righteousness of pacifism.
Thank you good people of Madison. You seem to have learned from our mistakes. The police provocations will escalate.
Talk about voter fraud, here again the republicans are the ones perpetrating voter fraud on the people of Wisconsin.
If the wealthy republicans such as the Kochs can corrupt the political process with money, how many other places are the wealthy corrupting the political process?
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