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Student Arrested at UCSC for attempting to incite revolution
Student arrested, sent to jail/hospital for attempting to incite a revolution on the UCSC campus
My name is David Lee and I’m a student at UCSC (and I also happen to be a former student-journalist on campus as well). I have a story that I think might interest you.
I was recently arrested for attempting to incite a revolution on the UCSC campus. It started as a project to write a paper on, but it turned into a horrible mess that landed me in jail, and eventually in the hospital.
I was arrested last Sunday night, without being read my rights, and made to spend 10 hours in jail without charge (I was told that I was held for being intoxicated in public, although I was not intoxicated, and I was arrested at home, not in public). In fact, I was arrested for going on the air at KZSC, and calling for a “revolution.” After this, I drove home, honking my horn, screaming “viva la revolucion.” In no time, the police showed up at my door, threw my to the ground, and dragged me off to jail. After I was released from jail, I walked barefoot to the chancellor’s office (they did not give me shoes in jail) where I was taken directly to her executive assistant. From there I was taken to the health center to be seen by both a doctor and a psychiatrist. After I was cleared I went home. I returned to the health center the next day for a follow up and was again told that there was nothing wrong with me, that a few days rest was all I needed, and that I could return to school immediately. I returned still a third day to see my psychiatrist, but unfortunately he was not there. Instead, the head of psychiatry called the police and had me escorted to a mental hospital. There I spent 3 days under observation against my will until today, when the maximum time that they can hold you had expired (72 hours).
In all, my ordeal lasted 9 days. Much of this (up until I was dragged off to the Looney bin) was planned. I wanted to write my senior thesis on "the system." I wanted to see how people would react to the word REVOLUTION. I wanted to see what would happen. But I was taken on a ride that was much longer and more trying than I would have ever expected. My "revolution" was just about getting people to think. Getting people to think before they judge others, getting people to think before they jump to conclusions.
I just got back to Orange County where I will rest up and begin to write about my experiences. Although my constitutional rights were infringed upon, I plan no legal action (the mere fact that I seek no legal recourse has only compounded the rumor that I am insane). My housing contract was terminated because of this ordeal, and I’ve withdrawn from school for the quarter to recover both mentally and physically (the officers used the same kind of pain compliance techniques that we saw at tent university, despite the fact that I did not even “peacefully” resist). I was terminated from one of my jobs at the university, and had to resign from an internship/fellowship that I held at the radio station.
All in all everyone was kind and loving. It is not the people who are broken, but rather the rules of “the system” by which they are forced to comply. I don’t want to sue the University; I don’t even need an apology. I just want my story told so that it never has to happen on our campus to anyone again.
In peace and love,
David J Lee
DjL
dlee [at] ucsc.edu
I was recently arrested for attempting to incite a revolution on the UCSC campus. It started as a project to write a paper on, but it turned into a horrible mess that landed me in jail, and eventually in the hospital.
I was arrested last Sunday night, without being read my rights, and made to spend 10 hours in jail without charge (I was told that I was held for being intoxicated in public, although I was not intoxicated, and I was arrested at home, not in public). In fact, I was arrested for going on the air at KZSC, and calling for a “revolution.” After this, I drove home, honking my horn, screaming “viva la revolucion.” In no time, the police showed up at my door, threw my to the ground, and dragged me off to jail. After I was released from jail, I walked barefoot to the chancellor’s office (they did not give me shoes in jail) where I was taken directly to her executive assistant. From there I was taken to the health center to be seen by both a doctor and a psychiatrist. After I was cleared I went home. I returned to the health center the next day for a follow up and was again told that there was nothing wrong with me, that a few days rest was all I needed, and that I could return to school immediately. I returned still a third day to see my psychiatrist, but unfortunately he was not there. Instead, the head of psychiatry called the police and had me escorted to a mental hospital. There I spent 3 days under observation against my will until today, when the maximum time that they can hold you had expired (72 hours).
In all, my ordeal lasted 9 days. Much of this (up until I was dragged off to the Looney bin) was planned. I wanted to write my senior thesis on "the system." I wanted to see how people would react to the word REVOLUTION. I wanted to see what would happen. But I was taken on a ride that was much longer and more trying than I would have ever expected. My "revolution" was just about getting people to think. Getting people to think before they judge others, getting people to think before they jump to conclusions.
I just got back to Orange County where I will rest up and begin to write about my experiences. Although my constitutional rights were infringed upon, I plan no legal action (the mere fact that I seek no legal recourse has only compounded the rumor that I am insane). My housing contract was terminated because of this ordeal, and I’ve withdrawn from school for the quarter to recover both mentally and physically (the officers used the same kind of pain compliance techniques that we saw at tent university, despite the fact that I did not even “peacefully” resist). I was terminated from one of my jobs at the university, and had to resign from an internship/fellowship that I held at the radio station.
All in all everyone was kind and loving. It is not the people who are broken, but rather the rules of “the system” by which they are forced to comply. I don’t want to sue the University; I don’t even need an apology. I just want my story told so that it never has to happen on our campus to anyone again.
In peace and love,
David J Lee
DjL
dlee [at] ucsc.edu
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Was that a 5150? In Berkeley, I know a talkative and slightly eccentric guy (african american), who can make friends with random people on the sidewalk and get into a 15 minute conversation. His sister's landlord at her apartment died of a heart attack, and the police showed up and seemed to be interrogating her in a way as though they were suspicious that there could be foul play. He insisted on staying there while they were talking to her, and filed a complaint with the department after they pushed him out. Then a few weeks later the involved officer got angry at him was sent to the facility in San Leandro where they send people declared '5150' for showing mental symptoms. The hospital let him out almost immediately. The officer filed a report saying he had been found babbling about messages he was hearing via a radio in his head. My friend thinks it's something that happens commonly to people who didn't violate the law, but the police want to get out of their way. I believe that stuff gets entered into a state computer system, so if someone is stopped at a later time, the police will get this earlier record and assume they have a mental patient, and then they won't believe their side if there is a dispute or conflict.
Perhaps you could take some law courses, and some psych meds. Your whole situation sounds "nutty" to me.
I think your account would be interesting to play on the Free Radio Santa Cruz, so I'll be reading it aloud tomorrow (between 11 and noon) on 101.1 FM. Feel free to call in on-air to expand your account at 831-427-3772. Or to call me off-air at 831-423-4833.
yeah. One thing to consider is what you actually have as an objective with the project you described - before the police had a nasty reaction. On one level, it sounds like you want to engage in a 'leadership' role that assumes that most everyone else is asleep or is an unaware sheep who just needs some instigation. The thing is, while this can be sorta true in certain situations, it's probably best to touch bases with various activist groups in the community before you
Relating my own experience as a UC student to yours, (although I have no real idea about your life), I think a lot of university students grew up in an environment sheltered from economic poverty by their parents, and also received a lot of reinforcement that they are smart, with test scores in the top 10%. Even within a high school, we were segregated from the 'nonhonors' students in classes, and the hierarchical clique culture in american high schools will lead to a type of thinking that everyone else is just a follower who doesn't know anything. UCSC, like several colleges which are physically set apart from the rest of the community in college towns, often doesn't let students have daily interaction with the rest of society. So it might be easy to be inflamed by some ideas or issues that you're reading about, and then be inspired to transform this into a mission to inform the rest of the world - who must be completely unaware.
Anyway, the thing is, it can entirely be possible that only a few people know about some issue and have a moral obligation to get it out. Protest against the Vietnam war in 1963-64 under Kennedy had been almost unheard of before, or, in the situation of Indonesia slaughtering east Timorese with american funds, most U.S.ers hadn't even heard of the island, so loud single-person campaigns were appropriate.
I encountered this with a law student I met from wealthy Los Angeles, who had just become political after seeing the Chomsky documentary. He definitely viewed working class people as complacent sheep, although it was probably more true of the upper-middle class he had come from. The thousands of business students across the country go through an even more severe indoctrination into the 'leadership' ideal, where they are told that it is their job to direct workers, and as entrepreneurs they are actually risking something by putting their ideas into action, and therefore deserve big monetary rewards or profit for that risk. This isn't really true because collective wisdom of all employees often would be more likely to succeed, and the businessman can't go below $0 wealth from his risk if the business failed, but many workers are also near $0 wealth without being permitted to take a risk or reward.
The language they use in high school and management level books and Leadership seminars is just as vanguardist as the RCP.
Relating my own experience as a UC student to yours, (although I have no real idea about your life), I think a lot of university students grew up in an environment sheltered from economic poverty by their parents, and also received a lot of reinforcement that they are smart, with test scores in the top 10%. Even within a high school, we were segregated from the 'nonhonors' students in classes, and the hierarchical clique culture in american high schools will lead to a type of thinking that everyone else is just a follower who doesn't know anything. UCSC, like several colleges which are physically set apart from the rest of the community in college towns, often doesn't let students have daily interaction with the rest of society. So it might be easy to be inflamed by some ideas or issues that you're reading about, and then be inspired to transform this into a mission to inform the rest of the world - who must be completely unaware.
Anyway, the thing is, it can entirely be possible that only a few people know about some issue and have a moral obligation to get it out. Protest against the Vietnam war in 1963-64 under Kennedy had been almost unheard of before, or, in the situation of Indonesia slaughtering east Timorese with american funds, most U.S.ers hadn't even heard of the island, so loud single-person campaigns were appropriate.
I encountered this with a law student I met from wealthy Los Angeles, who had just become political after seeing the Chomsky documentary. He definitely viewed working class people as complacent sheep, although it was probably more true of the upper-middle class he had come from. The thousands of business students across the country go through an even more severe indoctrination into the 'leadership' ideal, where they are told that it is their job to direct workers, and as entrepreneurs they are actually risking something by putting their ideas into action, and therefore deserve big monetary rewards or profit for that risk. This isn't really true because collective wisdom of all employees often would be more likely to succeed, and the businessman can't go below $0 wealth from his risk if the business failed, but many workers are also near $0 wealth without being permitted to take a risk or reward.
The language they use in high school and management level books and Leadership seminars is just as vanguardist as the RCP.
David Lee, all the losses you have endured are horrible. I'm sorry to hear that you've gone through this. I myself have been sent to jail numerous times for no reason other than my politics, and I've also seen other people persecuted by the "mental health" establishment, so I know that your story is entirely plausible.
While America's capitalist courts usually do not deliver justice, I would hope that you would consider a lawsuit. I myself have won lawsuits both against the City of Santa Cruz and the County for the violence and other repression they carried out against me. I view these legal victories not just as the minimal compensation they are for what I've been put through, but also as another arguing point that I can point to in convincing people that I was right.
I think that CP is reading too much into David Lee's experiences. I didn't see anything about vanguards in what David Lee wrote except in that he is advocating revolution. Yet I also would not see anything wrong with it if David Lee's perspective is building a vanguard, since it has always taken a political vanguard to lead a revolution.
David Lee, you are welcome to post your experiences on Liberation News:
http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/liberation_news
While America's capitalist courts usually do not deliver justice, I would hope that you would consider a lawsuit. I myself have won lawsuits both against the City of Santa Cruz and the County for the violence and other repression they carried out against me. I view these legal victories not just as the minimal compensation they are for what I've been put through, but also as another arguing point that I can point to in convincing people that I was right.
I think that CP is reading too much into David Lee's experiences. I didn't see anything about vanguards in what David Lee wrote except in that he is advocating revolution. Yet I also would not see anything wrong with it if David Lee's perspective is building a vanguard, since it has always taken a political vanguard to lead a revolution.
David Lee, you are welcome to post your experiences on Liberation News:
http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/liberation_news
Look, after having worked up there I can tell you the best you do with admins up there is lip service. they simply don't care about much other than advancing their own career. anything strange scares them, anything not covered in rules and regs, scares them, students standing up for rights or god forbid thinking independently, scares them. the campus has made a massive shift from liberal arts to technology that serves the corporate infrastructure. you attempted to tip the rotten apple cart. be forewarned, despite the lovely campus setting (trees that haven't been cut down...and incidentally ask yourself how much UCSC gets for each tree cut down), the place is nasty.
THIS HAPPENED TO ME. MAY 2003.
(1) BEATEN UP FOR no reason by santa clarita sheriff
dirty cop terrorists in front of neighbors' house -
where I had fled to and called 911 from---- because the cops
REFUSED to leave my house after entering. To THIS DAY,
I DO NOT KNOW WHY THEY CAME TO MY HOUSE.
(2) I was so scared I didn't have even time to ID MYSELF while on
9-1-1, just said, basically, two cops were refusing to leave
my house. This all happened very, very FAST. While on 9-1-1 call
in front of my neighbor's house, I was beaten up by a
santa clarita sheriff (AKA dirty cop terrorist).
(3) I was put on a "3-day hold" via the Henry Mayo Newhall Hosp.
E.R. "3-day hold" is the term used by the very, very
clever dirty cop terrorists to deceive and smear the person
being put on a "5150."
(4) I am unluckiest person on this earth, I believe. While on
a "3-day Forced Psychiatric Detention" (aka 5150) at
Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital Psych. Unit, I was forcibly
drugged with an unknown Psychiatric drug via buttock. On release
that night there was a self-stabbing induced by
a dirty cop terrorist-incited beating and forced psychiatric drugging
at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Psych. Unit.
(5) I am STILL trying to get a copy of the FIRST day's unwarrranted,
dirty cop terrorist-incited beating while still on 9-1-1 ( I believe,
the santa clarita sheriff control this 9-1-1 local call log system).
(6) I ask myself every day, AM I LIVING in America or North Korea ?
---------------------- APRIL 16 SUN. 2006.
(1) BEATEN UP FOR no reason by santa clarita sheriff
dirty cop terrorists in front of neighbors' house -
where I had fled to and called 911 from---- because the cops
REFUSED to leave my house after entering. To THIS DAY,
I DO NOT KNOW WHY THEY CAME TO MY HOUSE.
(2) I was so scared I didn't have even time to ID MYSELF while on
9-1-1, just said, basically, two cops were refusing to leave
my house. This all happened very, very FAST. While on 9-1-1 call
in front of my neighbor's house, I was beaten up by a
santa clarita sheriff (AKA dirty cop terrorist).
(3) I was put on a "3-day hold" via the Henry Mayo Newhall Hosp.
E.R. "3-day hold" is the term used by the very, very
clever dirty cop terrorists to deceive and smear the person
being put on a "5150."
(4) I am unluckiest person on this earth, I believe. While on
a "3-day Forced Psychiatric Detention" (aka 5150) at
Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital Psych. Unit, I was forcibly
drugged with an unknown Psychiatric drug via buttock. On release
that night there was a self-stabbing induced by
a dirty cop terrorist-incited beating and forced psychiatric drugging
at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Psych. Unit.
(5) I am STILL trying to get a copy of the FIRST day's unwarrranted,
dirty cop terrorist-incited beating while still on 9-1-1 ( I believe,
the santa clarita sheriff control this 9-1-1 local call log system).
(6) I ask myself every day, AM I LIVING in America or North Korea ?
---------------------- APRIL 16 SUN. 2006.
For more information:
http://DIRTY COP TERRORISTS
every five years! Our country was founded by revolution, and TJ called for a revolution every five years. Maybe he thought elections could be revolutions . . . maybe they will be.
So sorry for what those mindless creeps put you through.
Don't call them pigs, though; it's an insult to the real pigs, which are beautiful animals! They're just horrible humans.
Maybe you can use the precedent of our founding "fathers" calling for revolution in your defense. Stay strong; what you've done is brave and courageous, and is an example others should follow. Soon there will be a groundswell against the corporatocracy!
So sorry for what those mindless creeps put you through.
Don't call them pigs, though; it's an insult to the real pigs, which are beautiful animals! They're just horrible humans.
Maybe you can use the precedent of our founding "fathers" calling for revolution in your defense. Stay strong; what you've done is brave and courageous, and is an example others should follow. Soon there will be a groundswell against the corporatocracy!
thats just not so. there are plenty of great people who work in the administration. it is the system that is broken, not the people.
look, this wasnt about politics, the santa cruz pd, or students against war, or any other "activist" group. i have a hard time with the word activist, because i see so little action. my intention wsas not to bring any cause into the limelight, but to just make people think outside the box. thats it.
David,
I read your story and just wanted to chime in because I'm interested in the emerging field of ecopsychology, which is just a body of ideas that look at the relationship between nature and sanity. In particular, it shows how societal problems and psychological problems are interrelated.
You were, it seems, reacting to the forces that the UC/police state institution imposes on you. And so in turn, those forces reacted to you. I see why you're upset. I also hope you can see why the shrinks and the pigs did what they did. The people may be "sane" but the system is not. To understand and change an insane system, you and I must learn how to be society's therapist, for lack of a better term. And how do the best therapists approach their patients? Not by attacking, but engaging.
The cops are pawns so look beyond retribution for the way they handled you. (And don't beat up on yourself for the anguish you've experienced this week. I think the insanity we experience is a direct result of the societal insianity -- you're just more sensitive to it than most.) Revolution is in the air. I hope you find a way to engage it, to ride it gently and teach us more lessons through this website.
I read your story and just wanted to chime in because I'm interested in the emerging field of ecopsychology, which is just a body of ideas that look at the relationship between nature and sanity. In particular, it shows how societal problems and psychological problems are interrelated.
You were, it seems, reacting to the forces that the UC/police state institution imposes on you. And so in turn, those forces reacted to you. I see why you're upset. I also hope you can see why the shrinks and the pigs did what they did. The people may be "sane" but the system is not. To understand and change an insane system, you and I must learn how to be society's therapist, for lack of a better term. And how do the best therapists approach their patients? Not by attacking, but engaging.
The cops are pawns so look beyond retribution for the way they handled you. (And don't beat up on yourself for the anguish you've experienced this week. I think the insanity we experience is a direct result of the societal insianity -- you're just more sensitive to it than most.) Revolution is in the air. I hope you find a way to engage it, to ride it gently and teach us more lessons through this website.
was also nearly KILLED by forced drug. this is a police terror state. please warn all aware people about attempted murders by ''mental '' drugs. this is happening in THIS country
Ok, now david wants to say this has nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with activists, and nothing to do with people who faced similar experiences. This is just about David Lee and noone else. Well, that is not the case if what he posted originally is true. Makes me wonder what time of night he was honking his horn and screaming about revolution.
"I just want my story told so that it never has to happen on our campus to anyone again."
Unfortunately, stuff like this (and worse than this) happens to people all the time, and will continue to happen to people. After all, repression is one of the pillars of civilized society, the one that "unwanted" people get pushed off of and crushed under. While the details may be unique, this is a routine operation for the system.
Unfortunately, stuff like this (and worse than this) happens to people all the time, and will continue to happen to people. After all, repression is one of the pillars of civilized society, the one that "unwanted" people get pushed off of and crushed under. While the details may be unique, this is a routine operation for the system.
About 3 am, and I recall the story a little differently... go ask some other Village residents if you want the real story.
I was a guest of someone who lives at the Village the night the police arrested you. Dude, you were out of control babbling and crying. Sometimes we couldn't even understand you. You're a big guy too, it was scary. That's why none of us helped when you were calling for help. Then you farted in that cops face. What were you on? I guess it doesn't sound as bad if you reject reality and substitute your own. Whatever gets you through the night man. I hope you get help.
Hey, I read your story about being jailed and then 5150'd. I don't mean to compare war stories but the same thing happened to me but I was held against my will for 10 days! No probable cause hearing and no medically verifiable or legally justifiable reason for holding me! I was strapped down and drugged without my consent or knowledge. It was a nightmare. I am not a violent person and I have never wanted to hurt myself or others. On July 30, 2006, I had a temper tantrum in my apartment after losing five years of work when the hard drive of my computer crashed. I threw something and the windows accidentally broke. I did not intend the windows to break and I was not attempting to hurt myself. In fact, I realized I needed to calm down so I went for a walk with my dog. I returned later and began to clean up. There was I knock on my door and five huge male police officers stormed into my apartment and physically restrained me while the other four officers searched my apartment. I was handcuffed and taken to SFGH. I was so scared that I fainted in the police car on the way to the hospital. No one told me what was going on, no one asked me any questions, and no one told me where I was being taken or why. It was a nightmare but it only got worse when I arrived at the hospital. I was calm on the outside but in schock and terrified on the inside because I literally thought I must have entered the twilight zone. Nothing made sense. I was put in restraints and given shots and an IV and they started pumping psychotic drugs into me via the IV. I lost consciousness for about 40 hours. The nightmare ended 10 days later on August 8, 2006, when I was finally released.
I can't believe this happened in America!? I thought we were suppose to be safe and secure in our own homes. How wrong I was. Freedom is slipping away folks. What happened to me could happen to anyone and that makes for a very scary reality for us all. It is a disgrace for all the men who have fought and given their lives for the past two and one quarter centuries to protect the freedoms and liberties that this country stands for. Let us not allow the past seven years to destroy all that.
I can't believe this happened in America!? I thought we were suppose to be safe and secure in our own homes. How wrong I was. Freedom is slipping away folks. What happened to me could happen to anyone and that makes for a very scary reality for us all. It is a disgrace for all the men who have fought and given their lives for the past two and one quarter centuries to protect the freedoms and liberties that this country stands for. Let us not allow the past seven years to destroy all that.
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