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Indybay Feature

Pepper Spray Hearing on 8/24

by BACH
Pepper Spray By Q-Tip on Protesters Trial Nears
Final Pre-trial hearing Aug. 24
San Francisco Civil Rights Trial Sept. 7
For immediate release
August 23, 2004

Contacts: Karen Pickett (510) 548-3113;
Law Offices of Dennis Cunningham and Ben Rosenfeld (415) 285-8091
Pepper Spray By Q-Tip on Protesters Trial Nears
Final Pre-trial hearing Aug. 24
San Francisco Civil Rights Trial Sept. 7

San Francisco, Calif.- The question of whether direct application of
liquid pepper spray into the eyes of passive protesters is an
appropriate police tactic will come to trial on Sept. 7. With
implications reaching far beyond the logging protests that spawned
the case, Headwaters Forest Defense v. County of Humboldt et al.
charges use of excessive force by law enforcement in that county.

After the first trial in 1998 ended without a verdict, appeals court
decisions and finally the U.S. Supreme Court have sent the case back
to federal court in San Francisco. After an evidentiary hearing at
3:30 pm on Aug. 24 (courtroom 10, 19th floor), the trial will proceed
on Sept. 7 at the federal courthouse in S.F. at 450 Golden Gate Ave.,
with Judge Susan Illston presiding.

The lawsuit stems from three Headwaters Forest protests in 1997, at
the height of the campaign to save ancient redwoods. Activists had
locked themselves to each other in a circle at sit-in protests in
rural northern California. As Sheriffs' deputies tried to remove
them, they used the unprecedented tactic of application of pepper
spray by Q-tip. When police footage aired on national tv, the
horrified public saw officers force activists' heads back, pry open
their eyes and precisely smear the burning chemical into their eyes.
Most of the activists were young-some were first time protesters. The
activists subsequently filed suit against the Humboldt County
Sheriffs Dept. and Eureka Police. This time, the case will be argued
by the legal team that won the historic 2002 victory in the Judi Bari
v. FBI civil rights case.

S.F. Federal District Judge Vaughn Walker threw the case out in 1998
after a jury deadlock, issuing a "directed verdict", claiming "no
reasonable juror" would decide the activists' rights had been
violated by the tactic Amnesty International called "tantamount to
torture". However, the 1998 jury forewoman said at the time, "If you
can't sit down in a nonviolent way and protest on behalf of your
beliefs without being subjected to the police swabbing your eyes with
pepper spray or some other chemical agentsŠI think that's sort of
going back to the days of the cattle prod and the fire hose."

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals scuttled Walker's finding, ruling in
May 2000 that the plaintiffs had a right to trial by jury. That court
also removed Walker from the case for bias following his attempt to
move the case to the polarized community of Eureka.

In the seven years since the first trial, appeals court decisions
have all favored the plaintiffs, who attempted to settle the case
with Humboldt County, if law enforcement would alter their policy of
using chemical agents on non-violent protesters. Generally, pepper
spray is recognized as a tool of last resort when suspects in custody
are violent or out of control.

For more information, including video images and contacts for
courtroom drawings by court artist K. Rudin, see
http://www.nopepperspray.org
###
--

Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH)

2530 San Pablo Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94702
phone: 510 548 3113
email: bach [at] headwaterspreserve.org

http://www.HeadwatersPreserve.org
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by Robert Sprye (beowulf [at] affv.nu)
So now we know the truth in this case;

Walker is an enemy combatant who has attempted to thwart the rights of every free citizen in the interests of the oligarch (in this instance forest destruction for profit corporations).

The identities of those "police" members who willfully and deliberately abused citizens exercising their rights need to be revealed for obvious reasons.

Walkers actions (and the rogue cops posing as upholders of law and justice) are those of known enemy combatants to the principles and precepts of the Republic and as such, make them likely targets of opportunity at will for those who so choose.

Have a nice day.

by Robert Sprye is ill, seek help
Robert Sprye is a very ill anarchist. His comments are moot, he has convinced nobody except his own kind.
by Robert Sprye (beowulf [at] affv.nu)
Actually, although your useless and trivial statement has no bearing on any of the issues under discussion, you are more right than you know;

No matter. My recovery was rapid and now I will be doing more than ever to destroy the oligarch.

Didn´t you know?

We are well beyond the discussion stage when the so called government of, by, and for the people admittedly murders tens of thousands of innocent civilians for no cause other than the control of a regions resources and peoples by it´s constituency, a corporate oligarch that willfully manipulates truth and justice for a profit.

For it is they who have long since convinced ME.

Your puny statements have neither bearing nor weight, although I do love to laugh once in awhile. Those occasions sadly are more and more rare given the circumstances of our existence thanks to characterless men.

Care to try a little harder?
by Fuck Torture
The courtroom should be packed for this trial.

Thank you, Pepper Spray plaintiffs, for keeping this case going so long, and not backing down in the face of the police state. You are awesome.
by I am Uri Avory's love child!
little_angie_avory.jpgm7inez.jpg
I am Uri Avory's love child!
by compound eyes
Below is some medical info from the linx at http://www.nopepperspray.org website. Thought these paragraphs dealing with the health effects of pepper spray's main ingredient capsicum on the cornea is important. The capsicum concentration in police pepper spray is far greater than any natural concentration in a living pepper. The concentration of capsicum can increase the severity exponentially, and this is assuming sprayed from the recommended 2-3 foot distance, NOT direct contact with the cornea via swabbing..

It is unfortunate that many of the results below are from subjecting rats to capsicum exposure. Do we really need to torture animals to learn the danger of a chemical weapon designed to hurt people?

"Oleoresin capsicum (OC) is an oily extract of pepper plants of the genus Capsicum. Each year, millions of pounds of capsicum are imported into the United States, primarily from India, Japan, Africa and Mexico. It is used as a spice in salsa, chili, curries, and hot sauces; as a pharmacologic agent in topical anesthetic and analgesic creams; and as the principal active ingredient in OC spray, or "pepper spray," used by police and others as an antipersonnel agent. OC extract consists of a complex mixture of fat soluble phenols known as capsaicinoids; capsaicin (trans-8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) and dihydrocapsaicin, the most potent homologues, make up 80-90% of the total. Capsaicinoid content determines the "hotness" of the extract. The relative hotness is measured in Scoville units (the greatest dilution of pepper extract that can be detected by the human tongue).(1-3)

The capsaicinoid content of extracts used in pepper sprays varies widely among manufacturers, from 1.2% to 12.6%. Since the concentration of extract in pepper sprays also varies (5-15%), the potential risks associated with capsaicinoid exposure may vary by as much as 30-fold among brands of OC spray.

Depending on brand, an OC spray may contain water, alcohols, or organic solvents as liquid carriers; and nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or halogenated hydrocarbons (such as Freon, tetrachloroethylene, and methylene chloride) as propellants to discharge the canister contents.(3) Inhalation of high doses of some of these chemicals can produce adverse cardiac, respiratory, and neurologic effects, including arrhythmias and sudden death. The health effects of solvents and propellants are beyond the scope of this article, but they too need to be considered in evaluating potential hazards and effects of exposure to specific brands of OC spray.

Eye symptoms. Common ocular symptoms associated with OC spray exposure include redness, swelling, severe burning pain, stinging, conjunctival inflammation, lacrimation, blepharospasm and involuntary or reflex closing of the eyelids. In the rat, application of 1% capsaicin to the eye causes neurogenic inflammation and loss of reaction to chemical and mechanical stimuli for up to a week. In humans, superficial anesthesia and loss of the blink reflex may lead to corneal abrasions from contact lenses or foreign bodies. Capsaicin disrupts the epithelial layer of the cornea, so persons with impaired corneal integrity (from exposure keratitis, keratomalacia, or recurrent corneal erosion) are more susceptible to severe ocular effects than those with normal corneas. Ocular exposure to OC should be treated by flushing for at least 15 minutes with water.(3,7,20)"

http://web.archive.org/web/20000817004624/http://www.ncmedicaljournal.com/Smith-OK.htm
by Duff and Kay R.
Copy the code below to embed this movie into a web page:
video from the rally by Kay R. and Duff ...
the rally was in front of the pepperspray trial ...
San Francisco Federal Bldg. ... Sept. 8, 2004
by matt fitt
The 5-min video of today's rally/talk/press conference is well worth checking out.

The woman near the end who is talking about the history of revolution in the US... she stumbles verbally once or twice, but the moment had that feel of being defining, historic.

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