Stand with Cecily McMillan
Cecily McMillan, a leading activist in the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City, has been unjustly convicted of felony assault of a police officer who assaulted her during a March 2012 demonstration, when protesters attempted to reoccupy Zuccotti Park, the site of the Occupy encampment.
Police claim that Cecily elbowed an officer in the face during her arrest. But Cecily says she merely reacted when the officer--who was dressed in plain clothes and didn't identify himself--sexually assaulted her by grabbing her breast from behind. Far from the cop being assaulted, it was Cecily who was brutalized--she suffered a seizure while lying on the sidewalk, while the ring of police around her stood and watched.
Despite video evidence and eyewitness testimony corroborating her side of the story, a jury convicted Cecily of felony assault after a trial where a plainly biased judge tipped the balance for the prosecution. Cecily has been denied bail and now sits in the Rikers Island jail awaiting her sentencing, which could include imprisonment of up to seven years.
In a statement from Rikers, Cecily wrote: "Admittedly, I was shocked by the jury's verdict on Monday, but was not surprised by the events that followed. An overreaching prosecutor plus a biased judge logically adds up to my being remanded to Rikers. I was prepared then, as I am now, to stand by my convictions and face the consequences of my actions--namely that of refusing to forsake my values and what I know to be true in exchange for my 'freedom.'"
On May 13, the University Student Senate (USS) at The New School, where Cecily is a graduate student, passed the following statement of support.
To all New School students:
On May 5th, a guilty verdict was issued against Cecily McMillan, a New School graduate student, for the crime of defending herself against a violent attack and sexual assault by an unidentified, plainclothes cop at an Occupy Wall Street protest. She faces up to seven years in jail; her attacker, Officer Grantley Bovell, still patrols the streets.
This travesty of justice comes in the context of the systematic police repression against the Occupy Wall Street movement, itself just one manifestation of the ongoing curtailing of our civil liberties by an expanding police state, and a system where the police, including the NYPD, has the increasing right to assault, molest, search and murder with impunity.
Therefore, The New School University Student Senate wishes to announce that it stands in full solidarity with Cecily McMillan and all victims of police repression of dissent. We demand the immediate release of McMillan, and all other political prisoners.
The USS will do all it can to support all those victims of sexual assault at The New School, and demands the end to any toleration of Rape Culture in the NYPD, The New School and the larger society.
The USS calls on all members of The New School community to lend their support to Cecily McMillan, her defense campaign and all victims of police repression and brutality. Please go to her defense campaign's website to learn more on how you can help Justice for Cecily.
Statement adopted and passed by The New School University Student Senate on May 13, 2014.
