Video (1) Continued on Video (2) by Rafael Martínez Alequín
Video (2) by Rafael Martínez Alequín
By Anna Merlan Wednesday, May 14 2014
Zach D. Roberts
Police
remove Cecily McMillan from a bus they’d commandeered for prisoner
transport at Zuccotti Park on the night of St. Patrick’s Day 2012.
On a chaotic March night two years ago, in the midst of one of Occupy Wall Street's last large-scale demonstrations, a police officer did or did not grab Cecily McMillan's
breast. Two years later, in a much-discussed, hotly-contested trial
that centered around a blurry five-second YouTube clip, McMillan has
been found guilty of assault on a police officer. But has justice been
served?
McMillan says she was at a six-month anniversary celebration at Zuccotti Park for only a few moments, intending to find a friend in the crowd and get out. But while she was there, the NYPD began clearing the park of demonstrators. Chaos reigned. McMillan says her only clear memories from the night are being grabbed from behind by her right breast, then flung forward on her face. Her next clear memory is from hours later, when she awoke handcuffed to a hospital bed and was told she was under arrest.
NYPD officer Grantley Bovell remembers the night differently. He says McMillan deliberately elbowed him in the eye while shouting at someone in the crowd, "Are you filming this?" He saw stars, suffered a black eye, and missed two weeks of work.
Far from clarifying the events of that night, the trial only served
to obscure them further. The guilty verdict has inflamed the city's
progressive activists, who say it's the work of a heavy-handed DA and a
biased judge. But the prosecution in her case argued McMillan was drunk,
violent, and got the trial she deserved. Who's right?
Read the full story in this week's Village Voice.
McMillan says she was at a six-month anniversary celebration at Zuccotti Park for only a few moments, intending to find a friend in the crowd and get out. But while she was there, the NYPD began clearing the park of demonstrators. Chaos reigned. McMillan says her only clear memories from the night are being grabbed from behind by her right breast, then flung forward on her face. Her next clear memory is from hours later, when she awoke handcuffed to a hospital bed and was told she was under arrest.
NYPD officer Grantley Bovell remembers the night differently. He says McMillan deliberately elbowed him in the eye while shouting at someone in the crowd, "Are you filming this?" He saw stars, suffered a black eye, and missed two weeks of work.
Justin Renteria
VMG
McMillan talks with one of her defense attorneys, Martin Stolar, outside the courthouse midway through her trial.
Related Stories
Blind Justice: Cecily McMillan Faces Prison for Assaulting CopMay 13, 2014
NYPD Testifies In Trial of Cecily McMillan, Occupy Wall Street Protester Accused of Assaulting CopApril 14, 2014
In Occupy Activist Cecily McMillan's Trial, Judge Rules NYPD Doesn't Have to Hand Over Officer's Disciplinary FileMarch 20, 2014
Cecily McMillan Supporters Rally and Grieve Following Guilty Verdict May 6, 2014
As Occupy Protester Cecily McMillan's Trial Continues, Judge Orders Both Sides To Quit Talking to PressApril 17, 2014
Read the full story in this week's Village Voice.
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