Most of what is happening in New York City is nothing new to many Portlanders. The police arrest lawful protestors, lie about the circumstances in court, then get caught when video evidence is presented showing a different story than the one being told. Such is the case of Dennis Kyne who was arrested and charged with inciting a riot and resisting arrest during the RNC protests. When video of the arrest was shown, not only did it contract the statements of the arresting officer it also showed that the arresting officer was not even present for the arrests of Mr Kyne and 4 other protesters he had apparently arrested.
However, in what may be seen as an escalation of false testimony and evidence against those engaged in lawful protest (or even those merely in the vicinity of protests) by police and prosecutors, the prosecution of Alexander Dunlop was caught submitting altered video tape in their case against him. They removed segments showing his innocence and when a complete video was found and entered into evidence immediately dropped the charges and claimed that their video had been cut "by mistake". One has to wonder how many other mistakes have not been caught? One could further speculate at this admission by the prosecution who normally like to portray the criminal justice system as infallible. I suppose "we made a mistake" sounds better than "we altered evidence in an attempt convict an innocent citizen".
Currently, 91% of the cases involving protests at the RNC have been dropped. Over 400 cases have been dropped due to video evidence often gathered by independent videographers. The video camera has become an effective weapon against the tactics of false arrests and perjury employed by the police. People should feel empowered by their ability to promote justice across the country by providing a means of transparency and accountability that is sorely lacking in our governments these days. One tip to those who wish to engage in video journalism is to make sure and film the peaceful behavior of protests. In a culture of sensationalized "violence", often shamelessly promoted by the corporate media, it is important to retrain one's eye to capture the multitude of events and action, not just the police brutality, also known as "riot porn".
The next step for RNC litigation is predicable. Those who were falsely arrested and attacked by the police will mount suits against the city. Perhaps there will be 1 class action suit. This lawsuit will take at least a year or 2 until the city settles, probably for several million dollars. At that point, it will be up to the people of New York City to decide how to hold the mayor accountable for wasting their tax-dollars for the benefit of wealthy republican politicians, lobbyists, and delegates. Given the sentiment of New Yorkers to the RNC I'd bet they're not going to like seeing their taxes wasted and their city financially strapped, or perhaps even bankrupted. I wish them luck in holding their city officials accountable.
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More than four months after NYC Indymedia first broke the story of possible perjury by NYPD Officer Matthew Wohl in the case of RNC arrestee Dennis Kyne, as well as the role played by video activists in the dismissal of many charges stemming from the RNC, the New York Times released a front page story largely confirming many of the allegations.
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Manhattan DA Launches Investigation Into "False RNC Testimony" (Jan 3, 2005)
In the first jury trial stemming from the mass arrests at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City, video and photographic evidence showed that police testimony in the case appeared to have been entirely fabricated. Judge Gerald Harris granted a motion to dismiss all charges against Dennis Kyne on December 16th, 2004, after the defendant's attorneys produced the evidence contradicting statements made by NYPD officer Matthew Wohl while under oath.
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NY State drops charges against Josh Banno, RNC dragon arrestee (Apr 13, 2005)
At 7pm EST, NY State District Attorny Robert Ferrari announced he would drop all charges against Josh Banno who was wrongfully arrested during the RNC. Ferrari called Banno's NLG laywer to say that he planned to drop all charges. Banno was wrongfully arrested in connection to the "green dragon fire" that occurred in front of Madison Square Garden during the 1/2 million person march on August 29. Banno was initially held on a $200,000 bail and charged with 7 felonies, which were eventually dropped to 4 felonies. Banno was scheduled to go to trial April 19, after several delays initiated by Ferrari.
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these are all about the recent nytimes article (which, as usual, is way behind the indy coverage, and expresses a surprising amount of, well, surprise):
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All Charges Dismissed Against IWW Organizer Daniel Gross
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Following the RNC the police have also cracked down on critical mass:
You think maybe someone should give the citizens and city of New York a heads up about what happened when that was tried here in Portland?