Brittany Arneson, a UNM student who has become an increasingly visible face of the (un)Occupy Albuquerque protests, said she experienced both kindness and callousness from law enforcement during her arrest and incarceration at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center on Tuesday night.
Arneson was one of 22 protesters who voluntarily risked arrest in an act of civil disobedience when State Police, Albuquerque Police Department, and UNM Police Department officers arrived at Yale Park to enforce the expiration of the protesters’ permit for the park.
Arneson said she and 12 other arrested protesters were held at the scene in a police transport van for nearly two hours before being taken to the detention center.
“They kept us in there for several hours,” she said. “Then they took us down to the jailhouse and we went through the booking process. A lot of us were let out on our own recognizance.”
Items such as identification cards, pens, lighters and other pocket items were confiscated from them upon arrest, she said.
When they arrived at the detention center, items such as belts, scarves and jewelry were also removed. She said men and women were put in separate cells, and that the protesters weren’t grouped with more serious offenders.
“We could see each other sometimes,” she said. “We were specifically told not to talk to each other.”
Arneson said she was charged with criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor, while others may have been charged with resisting arrest. She said she was the first person to be released, and was out by about 10 a.m. Wednesday.
She said some officers were rough with the protesters, but most were sympathetic.
“Overall, I would say that the police officers were very kind to us and respectful,” she said. “They did use unnecessary force with some people — not me. I did watch them pull people up aggressively, but that could also be because the police felt (those people) were more aggressive.”
She said the jail staff acted “ridiculous,” and said four female protesters ended up with missing items upon their release, including shoes and jewelry. She also said staff was hostile on several occasions.
“They said that we weren’t taking this seriously enough … the fact that we were protesters and we were still doing our chants and singing while we were in the paddy wagon. … On several occasions we were called stupid. They said many things that led us to believe this is pointless and that we don’t have a justice system anyway.”
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Arneson said protesters were teased and sworn at.
“We got more respect from the people who arrested us than from the people who were containing us,” she said.
She was released on the conditions that she not violate any federal, state or local criminal laws and to notify the court of any address change. Arneson said the punishment for her criminal trespassing charge will be decided in court next month.
