Exclusive: OWS Activist Cecily McMillan Describes Seizure, Bodily Injuries in Arrest by NYPD | Democracy Now!
Exclusive: OWS Activist Cecily McMillan Describes Seizure, Bodily Injuries in Arrest by NYPD | Democracy Now!
Occupy Wall Street activist Cecily McMillan suffered a seizure when New
York City police officers pulled her from the crowd and arrested her as
hundreds attempted to re-occupy Zuccotti Park on Saturday to mark six
months since the launch of the movement. In her first interview since
her arrest, McMillan says she has decided to speak out because of an
outpouring of public support. "I have received so many emails and
twitters and messages and phone calls, and people [are] just really
horrified about what happened to me." McMillan has a black eye, and her
body is covered in bruises, at least one in the shape of a handprint.
She says she was not allowed to contact an attorney while she was taken
to the hospital and transferred to a jail cell along with some of the 72
other detained protesters. Facing charges of police assault and
obstructing governmental administration, she was released Monday after a
judge denied a request that her bail be set at $20,000. McMillan is
Northeast regional organizer for Young Democratic Socialists of America
and a graduate student at the New School for Social Research. We’re also
joined by Meghan Maurus, McMillan’s attorney and mass defense
coordinator at the New York City chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.
[includes rush transcript]
