KPFA's
Transmitter Tower
Tuesday, August 3, 1999
Notes on Events in the Afternoon
A pleasant day in the sun until...
The East Bay Reg Park employee
has been ID'd as Officer PelletierOne of the protesters felt that letting the guards (one of whom had been seen by Camp KPFA-ers in and around the station for the past few weeks) know that the transmitter is the property of the listener-sponsors, so went under the fence to talk to them. They wouldn't get out of their cars, one in a white two door Toyota thing c. 1984 and another guy in a green truck hiding behind an old silver-backed windshield sun block inside. They had called police as soon as we came up. An East Bay Park police person came up. He seemed pretty cool at first, but was getting more and more frustrated as the day and the heat wore on and it was clear we were not breaking up. He was quite overweight which may have contributed to the high blood pressure that was to come later.
The major portion of the group decided on a strategy to leave and then return, hoping that would leave the numbers vulnerable enough for an arrest.. About 20 minutes after they left, 10-12 or so Oakland police and East Bay Parks police cars came flying up the road, screeching to a halt and raising dust. Very dramatic.
The man Susan Druding was wary of had a cover of being with Kaiser who operates a transmitter very close to OUR transmitter. He had the full cop radio gear thing on under his windbreaker (and prob a gun too) which he kept zipping up to his neck on this really hot day. He obviously was feeding the someone the news of when there were enough protesters to subdue. The Parks cop even told us when he first got there that he learned very early on in training that when you're outnumbered you don't make any arrests.
The cops arrested the protester inside the fence, but not without incident. They told us "The Pacifica Foundation" owns the property and were responsible for the guards who in turn called the police who arrested the protester sitting behind the fence.
The "incident" was with the cop who had spent the day with us. I touched a sore spot with him early in the afternoon by bringing up Viet Nam. He admitted he was "in country" and I thought he was a little shaken by the memory. It was my thought to steer clear of this guy.
As the day wore on he got antsier and antsier. We had seen a few black and whites cop cars (Oakland prob) circling on the streets below, but then they left the area. The "thugs" and the cop and the undercover had been communicating all day on their radios. The undercover cop telling me at one point he had to go "take a piss." Right. (I haven't been around the ISPS people before this, unfortunately, "thug" is an appropriate name. I can definitely see these guys fooling with the radio equipment in the studios. Just not real bright, but cockiness to make up for it.
Anyway, as the posse drove up in a cloud of smoke, the ol' vet had had too much sun and too much tension. He told us we were taking the protests too far and later admitted he wanted to go home to his grandkids. He knew he had an hour and a half worth's worth of paperwork ahead of him. He was not much interested in finding out why we were there -- one reason of which was too protect the property from the same guys who did $30,000 worth of damage to the studio and station).
The officer physically picked one of the young female protesters (Chrissy, seen in photo) while she was trying to get up to move under his orders (all of a sudden he was "in charge") and spun her around pushing her about 15 feet downhill and backwards while still holding on to her. He was real keyed up and I was real close to jumping him because THIS OFFICER WAS WAY OUT OF LINE! He had no reason to lay a hand on her, let alone abuse her physically and emotionally. He was so spun at that moment I thought he might start beating her.
Someone has got to calm these police people down! He was a blinder! She let him know a couple of things in no uncertain terms herself, but it still deeply disturbs me to have witnessed this event. Another uncalled for violent act by police that I've witnessed. It seems to be all the rage these days.
report by: Wm Leslie Howard
(photos taken by Susan Druding with Nikon Coolpix900 digital
camera)
This page updated last at : 12/02/00 09:31 PM