[R-G] Arrested again, for not showing I.D

[aaron at istop.com]

Feel free to forward or publish whereever

    So the day started  out much like any other, except for not having to 
worry about work. I quit me job the other day and I have to say that when I 
quit a job it feels great. So I headed to the pyramid café when I got up to 
have an all day vegan breakfast( If your ever on Windsor street in Halifax, 
you'll have to check it out) After about 4 hours or so I headed down 
quinpool to order a book at "outside the lines", our local lefty bookstore. 
I am anxious to get the book, I believe it is called "Hizbollah: Politics 
and religion". It is suppose to me an in-depth look at the organization as a 
resistance movement and a social movement with respect to the many social 
services provided to poor shia communities by Hizbollah.
   After I ordered the book, I headed to park lane to go the environmental 
store to see if I could find some holiday gifts for my brother and his 
family. our family picks rotate full circle every 5 years. It is either my 
parents, my 2 sisters or my brother and his family. I managed to find a 
large wind-up chargeable light and 4 little ones for the kids. My bother 
just built a house that is very energy efficient. I do not think he is big 
into the environment, he just wants to save money. My sister-in-law on the 
other hand, she actually cares about the environment.
   I then proceeded down to my old job, subway to pick up my second last 
check. When I got there, my old co-worker was a little drunk. Can you blame 
him? I mean it is a large cooperation that is paying minimum wage, this 
particular store is not that busy and he works all back shift. Some people 
can numb their pain with alcohol, others like myself need to remove 
themselves from the condition that is causing the pain. I find it very 
painful participating in an economic system where you are only valued in so 
far as your able to sell your labour. Apparently the capitalists believe all 
the time away from work has no value. I had a great conversation at the cafe 
with a couple who were in their mid to late 50's and from fall river. It 
started when the women started reading about population projections for the 
future in the paper, then they started talking about the fact that we are so 
overpopulated and what we could do about it. I jumped in and said that we 
need to pass out free condoms everywhere and they kind of chuckled and said 
that would be good. We talked about how religion tends to keep contraception 
out of the hands of it’s followers and how religion can be a double edged 
sword. We then talked about the Cody Institute at St.fx  University in 
Antigonish and we talked about the Antigonish movement in the early 1900 
where there was an explosion of the cooperative movement in northern Nova 
Scotia. From there it was easy to talk about myself as an anti-capitalist 
and what I believe needed to happen to create a better world. This couple 
was engaged the whole way through and interested it what they could do to 
make the world better. To me this conversation had a vast amount of value. 
Actually, I do not think you can even put a price on it. it was priceless!!!
   I then headed to visit my sister but on the way I ran into a friend. I 
went to his place and listened to some songs he recorded and I played a 
couple for him. when I left to go visit my sister, I went via agricola 
street passed by my friends house where she and 2 other friends of mine were 
having some kind of meeting. Just before I made it to the street I turn on 
to go to my sisters, I notice 2 bicycle cops across the street. I look at 
them for a while and wonder what they were doing. It didn't appear they were 
harassing the man I saw scavenging through garbage, which is odd because we 
have a ridicules by-law that states you cannot root through garbage. So when 
ever the cops are around while your scavenging, you can pretty much be 
assured they are going to question you or worse. I though it was a little 
odd for the bike cops to be there, almost as if they were waiting for 
someone. I put it out of my head and continued to walk, at which time one 
bike cop pulled in front of me and blocked me and the other came from behind 
and told me to stop and that he needed to see my I.D and I said “am I under 
arrest", he said I was being detained Because I fit the description of a 
guy. I asked him who I fit a description of and he ignored me. I then told 
them that unless I was under arrest, I was not giving them my I.D at which 
time I proceeded to walk around the cop in from of me. then the cop behind 
me said you are now under arrest and you are being charged with obstruction. 
They grabbed my arm proceeded to twist it to a point I thought it would 
break and then pushed me to the ground to handcuff me. After about a minute 
of applying pressure on my neck and forcing my face into the pavement. They 
picked me up and pushed me up against the trunk of a black bmw or wv with 
tinted windows that showed up out of the blue. As they continued to apply 
pressure on my wrist and push it forward to the point that my hand stated to 
go numb. 
   As I yelled my name and that I was a victim of police brutality to people 
walking by, they just increased the pressure and forced my head down on the 
trunk, while applying excessive pressure on my neck. A paddy wagon arrived 
and the took me to the station. There I called my roommates who called some 
friends, but before long I was released, but not before they added another 
charge, breach of condition. You see I was arrested in the green zone during 
the atlantica protests and have many undemocratic conditions as a result. 
one of my conditions is to keep the peace. Apparently not give you I.D to a 
police officer now constitutes breaching the peace. the last bogus breach I 
was arrested for, the judge told me that even though I only got a hundred 
dollar fine, I needed to keep in mind that most people spend thirty days in 
jail for breaching conditions. To think that I am probably going to spend 
thirty days in jail because I stood up for my rights and refused to give my 
I.D to an officer who hadn't even arrested me only detained me based on the 
fact that I looked like someone. I was not even told what incident they were 
investigating even when I asked, I was only told that I looked like someone. 
Cops waiting to make an arrest, Black unmarked undercover car just happens 
to be in the neighbourhood, justification for my arrested is that I look 
like someone but the cops refuse to explain further. Do you think it is all 
coincidence? I say these are all hallmarks of a targeted arrest. Regardless 
of weather I am enemy number one with the Halifax police What this arrest 
really represents is one more attack on the Halifax activist community and I 
dare say the whole activist community in Canada. Weather it be an American 
war resister, an American antiwar activist living in BC or a Haligonian 
anarchist, an attack on one activist is an attack on us all. Are we living 
in 1984? is Canada now a police state? Must activist be constantly  watching 
over there shoulder so as not to get arrested and assaulted by fascist thugs 
also known as police? So what are we going to do? We can mourn or we can 
organize, I am picking the latter and I beseech you all to not only do the 
same but to double your efforts. The more tyranny they send our way, the 
more resistance from us they must see. So lets walk with our heads held high 
and a smile on our faces'. let us gain strength by overcoming adversity 
together. Their may be some bumps, bruises, pepper spray, maybe even some 
casualties along the way but in the end we will win!!! 
     Aaron Doncaster