A Greater Kansas City IWW member and prison abolitionist was arrested and charged with Class C felony tampering with motor vehicle, namely a police car found defaced with a liquid (possibly paint) and had physical and civil rights violated while in custody, including expressly refused access to legal representation, withholding access to a phone, held in handcuffs for an extended period, and denied dietary needs.
There is an urgent need for defense funds. As a precarious fellow worker with low wages, the accused is unable to afford attorney’s fees by themselves; an application to the public defender was denied for barely rising above the state’s poverty level, and has sent a distress call for solidarity donations.
In the early morning hours of August 10th 2013, a Wobblie worker was stopped by police for suspicion of “jogging up a hill” opposite a police station parking lot. They were asked by the officer why they were in the area and if searched would any damage would be found in the nearby parking lot. The officer placed items, including the person’s cell phone, on the hood of his patrol car. The voice on the officer’s radio claimed to discover a liquid of some sort on a police cruiser. The person was handcuffed and placed in the backseat. The person reminded the officer of the items on the hood.
When the person arrived at the station they remained handcuffed at the booking desk wooden bench for three hours. Approximately 45 minutes to an hour after arriving at the booking desk, the arresting officer returned with the person’s phone, showing that it had received extensive damage to the whole screen, the officer confirmed removing the battery of the phone and turning the phone back on before reassuring the officer’s sargent would handle further matters with regards to the phone before placing it in an evidence bag.
The person was asked a series of questions to which an attorney was requested and denied, (and would repeatedly be denied for the next 20 hours before being charged), reason stated, “you’re just on an investigative hold.” The person was refused phone calls for the same reason. Booking desk deputies mocked requests and assertions to the right to legal council and jokingly asked about the citizenship, nationality and ethnicity of the person in regards to what rights were afforded.
During the 60 hours preceding arrest, their partner was coerced into surrendering personal property outside the scope of a search warrant issued for the accused, subjected to harassment, intimidation and was lied to about evidence found by detectives. During the execution of a search warrant crafting items including paint were taken, political literature and art was photographed, questions were asked about the accused’s political affiliations and ideologies held.
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- No Missouri Repression
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