4/28: Late today, after a 5-day trial, Carol Fisher was
found guilty of 2 counts of assault on police officers for posting a
sign announcing World Can't Wait's protests against Bush's State of the
Union address. This is an outrage! Her sentencing will be on June 2. We
have a lot of work to do.
From the beginning, this trial was stacked against
Carol, and was meant to be a vicious message to anyone who thinks or
acts outside of the box. Judge McGinty wouldn't allow Carol and
her attorneys the ability to wage a defense. The only "relevent"
testimony was that provided by the state. No politics was allowed
into the trial. Nothing about the brutal and arrogant reputation of the
Cleveland Heights police. Nothing about how Carol was the one assaulted
by the police and then humiliated at University Hospital when she was
taken there for her injuries.
The testimony of a courageous EMS worker who was afraid for Carol's
safety from the police rampage was cut to a mere 4 minutes. Only one
character witness was allowed, and then only for a couple minutes. The
judge refused to inform the jury of a serious lie by the prosecution
during closing testimony.
But even after this outrageous verdict, it still
wasn't over! The judge actually praised the "professionalism" of these
cops and said they "they have a bright future!" He then ordered that
Carol submit to a psychological exam as part of the pre-sentencing
investigation! He said that he thinks she might have a "martyr
complex." The judge told Carol that she better be prepared to apologize
at her sentencing or else "bring your toothbrush with you." This was
all too much for Carol's supporters, and many stormed out of the
courtroom in response. One supporter, a professor at Case Western
Reserve University, was ejected from the hallway after calling the
prosecutor a lier. Another WCWer was escorted out of the building by an
armed sheriff.
This was a truly sickening display, and one which has big implications
for anyone who refuses to go along with the Bush program. They are
trying to send a message: shut up, submit to authority, or you will pay
the price.
But Carol's message is: "This will not be easy. If we speak the truth,
they will try to silence us. If we act, they will try to stop us. But
we speak for the majority, here and around the world, and as we get
this going we are going to reach out to the people who have been so
badly fooled by Bush and we are NOT going to stop." And we are NOT
going to apologize.
Those of us who hate the direction the Bush regime is taking things,
who will not have Iran attacked in our name, who will not sit silently
by as our rights are whittled away, need to continue to organize.
Click here to read an article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer on the conviction.
UPDATE from Carol Fisher:
Dear friends,
My trial date has been postponed to April 24th--a good development!
Rally Monday April 3rd as planned, to spread the word and say:
No Apologies, Drop the Charges, Protesting Bush is Not a Crime!
What is happening so far is a clear example
of the battle for the future! While we bring the truth to light and
fight to end the crimes of the Bush regime and all they represent, the
forces in court and government are trying to make me back down, to
discourage and intimidate people from speaking out, while bolstering
malicious, lying and repressive practices of the police.
As people know from the last message sent
out, the case had been on a very fast track and we expected to go to
trial April 3rd, which severely cut into our ability to prepare. Under
this time pressure, the prosecution offered a "settlement" which would
still place all blame on me and would portray my actions as a crime.
But I said no deal and my supporters agree! Meanwhile, the City of
Cleveland Heights has made it very clear that they want their police to
emerge from this case untainted and victorious. The courts and the
government all insist that this case is not about opposing Bush. They
and the police are working to cover over and reinvent what actually
happened to me that day, and to withhold evidence from the defense.
A number of important developments have arisen as a result of my arrest and trial.
1. Widespread, continued outrage over the arrest and support for my actions exists here and even across the globe.
2. Statements are coming in exposing other
examples of police brutality, politically motivated and otherwise, from
Cleveland Heights and elsewhere, that will be publicized in the course
of the case.
3. Medical workers are drafting proposals
for a manifesto of medical ethics that will uphold patient care over
complicity with police in cases where people are held in police custody
in hospitals.
4. Lawyers and law students are being approached to organize themselves to collectively fight police state measures.
These kinds of efforts will not only help
win this case but in a larger sense, strengthen our ability to change
the course of history.
When the Mayor and other Cleveland Heights
spokespeople say the police acted appropriately, they are telling us
that intimidating, aggressive and illegal behavior by the police is
sanctioned, approved and beyond reproach, INCLUDING when felony assault
charges result from putting up an anti-Bush poster! But they are not
deaf or blind to the facts, and they are not stupid(if they won't
acknowledge the truth, then they approve of all this!
This is an example complicity with the
political climate that the Bush regime is working hard to enforce and
escalate. Worst of all, they are attempting to force me, and the public
in general to go along. Watching this in action, it is no wonder how a
full blown police state COULD establish itself---IF WE LET IT HAPPEN.
BUT WE ARE SHOWING THAT SILENCE AND
PARALYSIS ARE NOT ACCEPTIBLE. THIS IS EXACTLY WHY THE MOVEMENT 'THE
WORLD CANT WAIT ( DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME' EXISTS.
'This will not be easy. If we speak the truth they will try to silence
us. If we act, they will try to stop us. But we speak for the majority,
here and around the world, and as we get this going we are going to
reach out to the people who have been so badly fooled by Bush and we
are NOT going to stop.' -from the call of the World Can't Wait - Drive
Out the Bush Regime
---For those who don't know---the facts of my case are clear: I was
wrongly arrested and assaulted for putting up anti-Bush posters. I was
further punished for defying the police. I sustained injuries, trauma,
intimidation, a threat on my life, being labeled a crazy wildcat, held
incommunicado for six hours, forced to undress in front of 4 male
policemen, and have lost of my job as a result of all this. All this
happened because I put up a poster calling for active opposition to the
Bush Regime! THIS IS NOT A CRIME! THIS IS AN URGENT NECESSITY!!! (for
details on the case go to: worldcantwait.org, 'news and events' toward
the bottom of the home page)
To help prepare for my trial, or to donate
money, or to join in any of the above efforts, reply to this email or
contact World Cant Wait, Cleveland: 216-633-6200, Cleveland@worldcantwait.org.
Make checks payable to 'Carol Fisher Defense Fund' and mail to 'NION/WCW PO Box 609034 Cleveland oh 44109
People have asked where they can call to
register their protest to the city and to say that the charges should
be dropped. Public support on my behalf has already made a big
difference in this case. Right now the particular decision makers are:
William B. Mason, County Prosecutor - he is the only prosecutor with authority to drop the charges. 216-443-7800.
Judge Timothy McGinty- 216-443-8758
Cleveland Hts Law Director John Gibbons-makes recommendations to the prosecutor. (Cleve Hts Law Department) is 216 291-5775.
Statement posted early February:
On January 28, 2006 Carol Fisher was attacked by
Cleveland Heights police as she posted signs saying "Bush Step Down."
She was handled violently by the police and arrested, even though she
agreed to take the posters down when informed that posting is illegal.
When she was shacked hand and foot, one cop said to her, "I'm sick of
this anti-Bush shit." She was taken for a psychiatric evaluation (!)
where she was forced to strip before male cops, denied the right of a
phone call and held for six hours. The Cleveland Heights police have
the nerve to say Ms. Fisher attacked them.
The Cuyahoga County's Court of Common Pleas is
rounding out their complicity by working to railroad Ms. Fisher's trial
through the courts. A grand jury was convened and FELONY indictments
issued in less than a week! And Carol's trial date is now set for April
3, less than 2 months after the indictment.
*Why is Carol's case on a such a "fast track"?
*Why did the police attack her for such a minor "offense"?
*Why are the charges (2 counts of felony assault on police officers) so severe?
This sort of escalated aggression is what we can look
forward to in the era of the "War on Terror"... IF we stand silently
by. In fostering a climate of fear, oppression and intimidation, the
police are attempting to make an example of Ms. Fisher and show the
rest of Ohio what happens if you don't comply with the program. They
are trying to establish the appearance of war at home, creating a new
normalcy in which our rights are systematically stripped away and we
are denied due process.
The attack against Carol is not an isolated incident,
but a part of a growing epidemic of intimidation: to silence and punish
anyone who steps out against the Bush Regime. In September, New York
City, two men in New York City were arrested for protesting the
repression that occurred against the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
Two more were arrested in January for protesting the first day of
Samuel Alito's confirmation hearings. 7 people were arrested in
Greensoro, North Carolina at a protest during Bush's State of the Union
speech. And 2 Black activists were arrested and brutalized in Maryland
for the "crime" of handing out fliers to high school students.
"History is full of examples where people who had
right on their side fought against tremendous odds and were victorious.
And it is also full of examples of people passively hoping to wait it
out, only to get swallowed up by a horror beyond what they ever
imagined. The future is unwritten. Which one we get is up to us." --
from the Call, The World Can't Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime
Donate money and time to Carol's defense team! Make out
checks to: "Carol Fisher Defense Fund" and mail to "NION/WCW" PO Box
609034 Cleveland OH 44109
CONTACT CLEVELAND HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL TO EXPRESS YOUR OUTRAGE! [click here]
Contact the Cleveland chapter of World Can't Wait for the latest information and to find out how you can help: cleveland@worldcantwait.org, 216-633-6200.
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NEWS ON THE CASE
'Not Guilty' says woman arrested after hanging anti-Bush posters
by Eric Resnick, 2/16
CLEVELAND -- The woman
arrested and accused of assaulting police officers after hanging World Can't
Wait posters in Cleveland Heights
January 28 was arraigned in Cuyahoga County Common
Pleas Court February 16.
Carol Fisher, 53, a resident of the inner-ring suburb known for its
liberalism was charged with two counts of assaulting Cleveland
Heights police officers Daniel Downey and Mike Frinzl.
According to her statements, Fisher was hanging posters announcing the
World Can't Wait Cleveland action during the State of the Union,
when a passing officer told her it was a $100 fine if she didn't take it down.
Fisher turned and walked toward the poster, in compliance with the
officer's warning. But instead of allowing her to take it down or just issuing
a citation, Downey and Frinzl were
on top of her 'grinding his knee into [Fisher's] back and [her] face into the
sidewalk.'
Fisher said she told the officers she could not breathe. That didn't
matter. Two more officers showed up, and they dragged her to a bench, shackled
her legs, and handcuffed her tight enough to cause serious bruising.
Fisher objected to her arrest, telling the officers that 'as citizens we
have the responsibility to stop the crimes of the Bush regime.'
According to her statements, this inflamed the officers. One told her, 'I
am sick of this anti-Bush shit,' and they threatened to kill her. 'You are
definitely going to the psych ward,' said another. And that's where she ended
up, incommunicado, even to her Power of Attorney for health care. University
Hospitals personnel were forbidden by the police to allow visitors or for
Fisher to make a phone call.
Fisher appeared before Judge Kathleen Sutula http://www.cuyahogacounty.us/common/Judges/sutulak.htm
, a Republican known throughout legal circles for her partisanship and contempt
for defendants. She was flanked by her attorneys, Daniel Shields and Terry
Gilbert.
A copy of the indictment was not given to Fisher or her counsel until
that morning. Ohio law requires
that service be made at least 24 hours prior to the arraignment.
Shields waived the 24 hour notice and entered a plea of 'not guilty' on
behalf of his client.
Prior to Sutula's entrance into the courtroom, Gilbert had an altercation
with AssistantCuyahoga
County prosecutor Deborah Naiman,
who is not assigned to Fisher's case.
In an obvious attempt to show power, and a signal that the case is a
priority, Naiman badgered Gilbert across the courtroom.
'What city was this?' Naiman, out of her seat, walking toward Gilbert
shouted, 'You know and everyone knows it's against the law to hang posters
there. And it's Cleveland Heights.
Not exactly known as a hotbed of Bush support.'
'And that's not what you do to police,' Naiman continued. 'You don't
attack police when they are trying to arrest you.'
Remaining seated, Gilbert maintained his client's innocence and suggested
that the facts will come out in court.
But Naiman's enthusiasm for the hard line against Fisher is also
suggested by case timelines.
The grand jury indicted Fisher February 6, eight days after the arrest.
Felony indictments of this type in Cuyahoga
County generally take at least two
months.
Sutula set Fisher's bond at $2,500. Fisher was then taken into custody
and held until her bond was processed.
The case is part of a larger growing problem
Wearing a black t-shirt with mug shots of Bush, Cheney, and other cabinet
members, saying 'Wanted for war crimes,' Fisher and half a dozen sign bearing
World Can't Wait members held a press conference prior to the arraignment.
Fisher made it clear that she's not afraid to go to jail, and that her
case is part of a bigger problem - the fascism creeping across the United
States. At every opportunity, she pointed to
the need to drive out the Bush regime.
Fisher said she's being prosecuted in order to intimidate others who
stand up to the growing police state.
'I'm not a wildcat,' said Fisher, 'and I'm not crazy.' Both are
references to statements put out by Cleveland Heights
police.
Fisher kept the t-shirt on in court to the amusement of sheriff deputies.
'Judge Satula's not gonna like seeing that,' they joked.
Vigorous defense promised
'The case should be tried in the courts,' said Gilbert following the
proceeding.
Gilbert said the city has not yet turned over any of the evidence they
claim to have against Fisher, including witness and police statements.
Public Information requests were also made on the city by World Can't
Wait on February 6. To date, they have not responded to those, either.
Gilbert said he expects the evidence to show that the police overreacted
in a matter that has serious First Amendment and political implications.
The following is a first-hand account of police harrassment and
brutality against a World Can't Wait organizer in Cleveland. If
anything like this happens to you, let us know asap! Contact
info@worldcantwait.org.
My name is Carol Fisher, and I am on the staff of
Revolution Books in Cleveland OH. At the bookstore we have been
immersed in building and supporting the initiatives of World Cant Wait.
Yesterday, 1.28.06, while putting "Bush Step Down" posters on telephone
poles along a major thoroughfare on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I was
brutalized by Cleveland Heights police, charged with 2 counts of felony
assault and held incommunicado under police custody in the hospital!
This outrage and others like it must be exposed and opposed by all who
hate the direction that the Bush regime is taking this country and the
world.
Here is what happened:
I had set out from my house with a full agenda, to
contact lots of people and get out materials about our upcoming
Cleveland event to Drown Out the State of the Union address, and the
call to march around the White House on Feb. 4th. My first stop was the an
area known for its community of artists and progressives, where I
stapled up posters for blocks and was greeted warmly by those who saw
and appreciated what World Cant Wait is doing. I talked to an artist,
and a Palestinian store owner who took fliers to distribute to
customers.
Next stop, to the east side. I drove down a street in
Cleveland Heights, another area known for its diversity and progressive
history. This street was badly in need of postering too and though i
was in a big hurry, I couldnt drive on without getting up a few signs.
Before long a cop called from across the street: "Ma'am! Hundred dollar
fine for doing that!" Oh really, since when? Another way of keeping us
from getting the word out, eh? But not wanting to get arrested, I said
ok and put up my staplegun and walked away. But that wasnt the end of
it. "Ma'am! Hundred dollar fine unless you take those posters down." He
is pursuing me across the street. Damn! OK fine, I say, I will take
them down (not wanting to get into a confrontation, because I have lots
to do today!) But this too is not enough for the cop. He wants my ID. I
say I dont have my ID. He grabs my arm. I say let go of me, I am not
doing anything wrong, I will take the posters down. People are watching
to see what happens, are outraged but very afraid. The cop wont let go,
he clearly wants more grief from me, and he is in the spotlight. He
wants people to be scared. He pushes me against a store window and next
thing I know I am face down on the sidewalk with two cops on top of me,
one with his knee in my back. I am trying to call out to people, to
tell them what the posters are about. They keep pushing my face into
the sidewalk. I cant breathe.
I have osteoradionecrosis in my jaw, resulting from
radiation treatments for cancer. My jawbone is slowly deteriorating, is
very fragile, and doesnt heal well. I am 53 years old, not exactly a
spring chicken. A hand comes down again to push my chin against the
concrete. By this time there are four cops on the scene. My hands are
tightly cuffed behind my back. They lift me up and shove me onto a
parkbench and shackle my legs. I am still calling out, telling people
what this is about. One of the cops says to me, "Shut up or I will kill you!", "I am sick of this anti-Bush shit!"
"You are definitely going to the psyche ward." Then somebody calls the
EMS, and a fire squad shows up. The cop superviser appears and puts his
finger in my face: "I dont like it when people treat my men like this
and if you don't obey the law you will suffer the consequences."
I am lifted into the EMS truck, hands still cuffed
behind my back. I ask to make a call and this is refused, but a fireman
offers to make a quick call for me. If not for this, no one would have
known where I was or what was happening, a fate shared by many
immigrants in this country. At the hospital, I am treated as an
arch-criminal. Escorted by four policemen, I shuffle into the emergency
room, legs still shackled, covered with leaves and mud. I think to
myself, if I was Black, I would not have made it this far. I would
probably be dead by now. People in the emergency room are shocked by
the scene and by what I am saying happened. I probably do look pretty crazy by now.
They put me on a gurney and pull the curtains around.
One female nurse and four male cops. They want me to undress in front
of the cops. I refuse. The cops refuse to leave. Finally the nurse
shields my body with a gown as I undress and put on hospital clothes. I
am cuffed to the bed, and two cops remain guarding me the whole time.
They put in an IV. I have no idea what they have in mind. Questions,
probes, tests and a tetanus shot, a hint from the nurses that friends
are calling to find out whats going on. First they say that one friend
is coming in to see me, but that never happens.
After many hours a psychiatrist appears to determine
my sanity. I dont want to talk to him, but have no choice. "This
information is confidential", I say. Well yes, he says, but if the
police want the information, I don't know if I can refuse... "This
information is confidential", I repeat, and I tell him, there are times
when you have to decide which side you are on. I have told him why I
have wound up here and what they did to me, and I tell him, this is a
moment in history when people have to stand firm against these
repressive measures. He replies, "Fair enough", and proceeds to write a
detailed record of my injuries.
I dont know it at the time, but outside in the
waiting room all hell had broken loose. In a very short period of time,
over a dozen WCW people showed up at the emergency room to demand that
someone be allowed to see me. The WCW people discussed what was
happening with the folks waiting in the ER, who were horrified at what
was happening, and very supportive when they were shown the posters I
had been putting up. The police and hospital staff claimed over and
over that the police were in charge of me, and they determine what
happens, not the doctors! Another example of a police state.
At one point, there was a big confrontation between
the WCW people and the police, right in the ER. My supporters said that
we weren't going to leave until someone saw me. Some of them were
sitting in the waiting room holding the big green WCW posters.
The main cop tried to have a "private conversation"
with the person with medical power of attorney. " NO! Come out here in
the open where we can all hear!" As people gathered to listen to the
conversation, and enter in their own opinions, the police threatened
WCW folks with arrest! They argued, stood their ground, called this
shameful (both to the police but also to the nurses who did nothing to
stand against this shit). The cops kept saying that there was no legal
right to see me, but people responded that, in Bush's America, the law
is whatever the police say it is and that there is a moral and ethical
right to to check on someone who is in the hospital.
Then a large phalanx of cops came. My friends pushed
it as far as they could, then marched out of the ER, followed by the
cops, all the way up to the street. 4 more people showed up who'd heard
about what was happening and wanted to help.
A lawyer and a doctor, who are endorsers of the WCW
Call, persisted in getting what info they could. All the while, people
were calling the local media (who never showed up!), calling in
complaints to the Cleveland Heights Police Department, and Cleveland
Heights City Hall. I was never able to be seen by my own nurse or
doctor or communicate by phone with anyone.
Shortly after being released from the hospital, I was
released on my own recognizance. The battle is far from over. This is
but one example of the attempts that the state, their authorities and
spokespeople will make to try to keep us from opposing the crimes of
this regime, and especially now, 2 days before the State of the Union
address. Our cause is as righteous as it gets, and no attempts to
intimidate or suppress, with threats or laws or physical abuse, should
stop us but instead strengthen the resolve, build our organization and
further demonstrate to the world that this regime is doomed, they are
vicious, and they must be stopped.
As it says in the Call, "If we speak the turh, they
will try to silence us. If we act, they will try to stop us. But we
speak for the majority, here and around the world, and as we get this
going we are going to reach out to the people who have been so badly
fooled by Sush and we are NOT going to stop...The future is unwritten.
Which one we get is up to us."
There are plans in the works for possibly a press
conference, suing the Cleveland Heights Police Department, taking this
issue of brutality to the Cleveland Heights City Council Meeting on Feb
6, doing a press conference, and circulating a pledge of medical
personnel to not allow medical treatment to be run by the police. We
will also be working with lawyers to fight these outrageous charges. If
any legal aid could be offered nationally, it would really help.
Completed petition signatures can be sent to cleveland@worldcantwait.org or PO Box
609034 Cleveland OH 44109 or Revolution Books 2804 Mayfield Rd, Cleveland Heights
44118
CONTACT CLEVELAND HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL TO EXPRESS YOUR OUTRAGE!
Edward J. Kelley, Mayor
Ter216-291-4756 (Voice Mail)
216-315-4616 (cell #) mayorkelley@clvhts.com
Letter in support of Carol Fisher from Carlos Jones, Reggae Musician, Cleveland OH:
I am appalled, but not surprised at this latest incident involving the
treatment of Carol Fisher by those Cleveland Heights policemen. It
seems clear to me that these officers were not "just doing their job."
This became personal. These men could not control their emotions, and
saw this as an opportunity to vent their anger and make an example of
this menace to society and to all that is good and sacred in this land
of the "free." This would send a message to all those who would dare
question our nation's leader and openly oppose what is, and should be
the "right" way of thinking. There seems to be an obvious and alarming
aversion to truth these days, or at least any viewpoint that might not
agree with the popular position as relates to what's going on in our
country. Just like our president, these officers have abused their
authority and their oath to serve and protect with impunity and
arrogance, secure in the knowledge that no one could, or would do
anything to them about it, and that they would surely have the popular
support over some deviant, left wing poster hanger. Hey! This is
America! Love it or leave it, right? "So what if we beat up (I mean,
subdue) a vicious, 5ft. 3in., 110 lb thug who took a swing at us?" "We
have every right, heck; it's our duty to keep these folks off the
streets, and from trying to pollute other people's minds with this
anarchistic, liberal, unpatriotic bullshit." Free speech? Justice?
These things are eroding just as quickly as the Lake Erie shoreline,
and we just stand and watch, too afraid to say anything for fear of
being branded a "terrorist sympathizer." More and more people are
realizing every day that things are not necessarily what we are being
told they are. As a result, the people who blindly buy in to the
"packaged reality" are getting real indignant. Anyway, not to get off
the point; I feel these officers need to feel what real justice is, and
not be allowed to get away with treating a human being this way. I
mean, come on, do you think they really had to go to those lengths? And
then, to act that way at the hospital, that was just fascist! It puts
me in mind of another time in our history. How far have we really come?
Who, of our leaders is going to step forward and say, NO! THIS IS NOT
RIGHT?! These guys let it get away from them. They didn't have to treat
Carol Fisher like she was the enemy of the state. They could have let
her walk away with a warning, or even fined her, but to wrestle her to
the ground for hanging a poster? What's up with THAT?
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