COM 0564.001 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

P_ a er s ra torment pp p Y reak olitical rotest to b p p By Charles Levsndtasky ~ v ~ ~ the middle of the floor in the office reception area. Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune / 7 / ~ ~ r1 The floor is strewn with sawdust and wood chips that three other protesters had dumped in Riggs' office. They had also wheeled in the redwood stump on a dol- With chilling deliberateness, adeputy sheriff dips a ly, then left-before Riggs'staff kicked the women pro- cotton swab into a cup filled with pepper spray. He testers in the office, so they would be there when the police approaches 16-year-old Maya who is sitting quietly on arrived. the floor with a soft, brown hat on her head. A police offs- On the stump sonreoce carved:'°[}ris deal [rakes slangs cer forces back her head and pries open her right eye. The of oar tu~e•"They are protesting an agreement that albws swab is swept across her lower eyelid. The girl stifles a the krgging of a portion of Northam California's oki-growth sob. "redwood forest. They brought their political protest to They repeat the operation on her left eye. She shakes Riggs' office. her head as if to shake off the intense pain. One of the women is now having trouble breathing. She could be your daughter, my daughter. She was- Her nose is running. Someone else coughs. And coughs. n't threatening anyone. She wasn't violent. She had no Someone snuffles. weapon. Moments before she had been smiling. Now her Another shakes her legs and swings her head side to head is bent as her eyes burn. side. One cries, "Oh, my God. Oh. Oh, my Gad." This isn't a scene horn a South American torture squad, This is not a scene from a torture squad in Colombia this is Humboldt County, Calif. or Chile. This is California redwood country. This is a The uniforms crouch as they shuffle over to the next congressman's state office. protester in the circle. They show no anger. Their actions After a few minutes, the women are warned to release are cool and purposeful. themselves from the metal tubes so they can be acrest- Someone gave them orders. They are following ed individually -or, the officer says, "We will have to them. use a direct spray."They ask for 5ve minutes to consider "One grabs Jennifer's head. "Will you release yourself?" what to do. he demands. "You've already made your point. Release your- "Don't," she pleads, "please don't."They smear her selves," says the deputy. eyes with pepper spray. "Why aze you using chemical weapons on us?" Ter- ^A11 four women who sit in Congressman Frank Rig- ri asks, "You have other options." gs° Eureka office moan in pain. Iisa kicks her feet to [tam- Five minutes Iater,the deputy and the police officer ple the pain she fins. move behind Tem. Their eyes are closed tight. They scream out. The police officer calmly pulls her ponytail back so Terri yells, "They are torturing American citizens with her face is upturned. "Please let me go," she begs. The pepper spray." deputy leans over her and shoots the pepper spray The women remain linked to each other with metal directly into her closed left eye. The canister of chem- sleeves over their arms. Linked iii pain. Linked in cause. ical spray is not more than 4 inches from her face. Ter- They refuse to unhook themselves. ri sobs and Tries to pull away. The four sit arm-to-arm around a large tree stump in Terri would later call it "a shacking sensation that huR