On August 20th 2011, Will Duffield, Meg Mclain, and I were hand cuffed, kidnapped, loaded into a van, chained to a wall for hours, and taunted by armed men and women in blue uniforms for selling lemonade at 10 cents a cup on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
I knew there was a possibility of arrest for our action of free trade on the capitol lawn, but the physical implications of arrest were something I had not expected. I was initially handcuffed by what looked like a 6 foot 6 linebacker with metal cuffs. The officer held tight onto my hands and would not let me even wiggle my fingers. The officer immediately began taunting me, and tried to turn me against my friends by telling me “All your friends are using you as a pawn, they are walking around with video cameras and you 3 are the ones in handcuffs” to which I replied “Dont you dare try to turn me against my friends, YOU are the one that has me in handcuffs.” After several more baffling comments he realized his attempt of duping me into a state of Stockholm syndrome had failed. The three of us were loaded into the van that had no air conditioner. My hands were behind my back, I had no way to push my hair out of my eyes or wipe the sweat from my face.
Once we arrived at the station Will Duffield was taken into the station for processing, leaving Meg and I in the van with no flowing air or air conditioning, and no idea how long we would be in the van. I asked the officers to please loosen my cuffs because they were slicing into my skin. To this they mocked me and told me “You should have thought of that before you were arrested” They kept looking through the window at Meg and I laughing about how they were going to keep us in jail all weekend,and happily repeating “you have just ruined the rest of your lives” Next Meg was taken in for processing leaving me alone in the heat filled van for several additional minutes. Finally an officer came into the van, unfastened my seatbelt, and took me into the station, where I was placed on a hard wood bench while I waited to be processed. Again, I asked the officers repeatedly to loosen my cuffs. While sitting on a bench a female cop kept yelling at me from the other room mocking me with statements such as, “your parents must be so proud of you” telling me that I am a shame to my family, and that I have ruined my life. She gleefully said that she would gladly arrest people like me all day long.
Finally it was my turn to go through initial processing. All I could think about was getting the cuffs off my hands. The same female cop who had just mocked me was the one who did my initial processing. She asked me If i had any scars or tattoos to which I replied “only the scars from the handcuffs” Finally my handcuffs were removed to reveal deep red indentions in my skin, upon seeing this the officer said it was my fault because I didnt ask the officers to loosen my cuffs. WTH? She had me place my hands on a metal bar and began groping my entire body including my breasts and vagina. At this point I felt extremely violated, how did selling lemonade somehow make me deserving of physical molestation? How did it make me un deserving of basic human decency? The officer then made me take off all jewelery, I obliged but stopped when she told me to take off my ring. It was my grandmothers ring that I had worn every day of my life since the day my grandmother died when I was 10. I begged her to let me keep it on. I said “please just let me keep this ring on, it is my most prized possession, I never take it off, I don’t know what you are going to do with it.” This was the only point of the day where I became emotional, my eyes started brimming with tears. I explained to them I would not sell the ring for a million dollars, please just let me keep it on what will it hurt? To this she seemed joyous, and exclaimed “ I hope you are kidding” and “You should have thought of that before you were arrested” Again, as though I should have expected selling lemonade for 10 cents would make me un deserving of basic human decency. My ring was removed and I was taken into a a small square room and chained to a wall, where I would remain chained for the next 4 hours.
A series of officers came in and out of the room asking me various questions about myself, my family, and our “group”. The officers wanted to know my associations, where I was from and a series of other questions. An hour or so later an investigator came in and said they had been anticipating us. He told me he had been on the www.lemonadefreedom.com website, and had also been watching us on livestream even before we were arrested. The officers kept repeating “if you had just sold somewhere else, you could have sold lemonade all day long” or “if you just gave it away instead of charging, you wouldnt be here right now” or “if you had just gotten a permit, this could have all been avoided” Clearly they are incapable of grasping the point.
Do they think we needed the 10cents? Of course not, the very reason why we charged, was because it was “illegal” to sell. We were protesting an unjust law. People wonder why there is homelessness in America, why the unemployment rate is so high, It is because the simple act of buying and selling in America is a criminal offense. You have a God given right to barter, buy and sell, and take control of your own livelihood. If you get a permit, you are waiving your right and asking permission.Why would we ask permission for something that is a fundamental right? if you don't want to be slave, you have to assert your right. If something as simple as buying and selling is “legal” then why do we need a “permit” (permission) to do it?
As to the objection, we should have just “done it somewhere else”...my question is why? We were on public property. Property paid for with our own tax dollars. People say that if they allowed vending near the capitol then there would be tons of vendors all around the capitol, my response to that is “so what?” We had a huge line of thirsty people wanting lemonade, clearly people would like vendors near or on capitol grounds, thus adding to the enjoyment of tourists, and providing a livelihood for vendors. I am glad we did this on capitol grounds. It exposed in broad day light what happens in silence every day. Curious and excited children who want to be productive and learn the value of a dollar and the basics of entrepreneurship are told they are criminals, law breakers, and punished for their vision and imagination. I dont want to live in an America like that, I dont want to live where a child is told to go inside, that they can not make a difference in the world, that their ideas are “wrong” and to go back to playing video games. To this I say “No”. Good people disobey bad laws.
I was then told each Meg, Will, and I were being charged with 3 misdemeanors.
- Unlawful Conduct
- Failure to obey
- Vending without a permit
After the paperwork was filled out, I was placed in a room where pictures were taken from every side of my face, and each of my fingers were scanned into a system where they will remain for the rest of my life. After providing references and getting my thumbs printed onto my documents, I was told to wash my hands, my belongings (including my grandmother’s ring) were returned to me, and I was released from the building. Meg, Will, and I reunited outside of the police station, to find that a call launch was made by our friends demanding for our release. That a group had been standing outside of the police station for 45 minutes. I was overwhelmed with love and support. I couldnt believe there were so many people who cared about our well being. To everyone who called the station, and to all those who gave support and demanded our release, I say thank you, To be treated with such kindness and thoughtfulness was overwhelming.
Our court date is October 4th 2011, I hope as many of you as possible can come and show your support as Meg, Will, and I face our captors once again. Mostly I would like to thank Robert Fernandez who did not let the crushing of children’s dream happen without an uproar. Also each of the children who defied the police and purchased a cup of lemonade deserve to be commended. It was the children who were the most courageous. They had not yet been brainwashed to fear that which is not scary. Their instincts of natural rights had not yet been deluded. To me that is beautiful and inspirational. We should all hold on to those instincts and inherent rights and assert ourselves as free people, just as those children did on August 20th 2011 as shown below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04MNf1YdNxI
As for the cops who said I am a shame to my family, last night I got a call from my father, after I said hello, he goes “Well, I just saw you on the news..” ...I held my breath as I anticipated a long lecture about the long term implications of my actions, but instead after the pause my father replied “I’m proud of you”.
