Dr. Linda Busch-Somach / Change.org – 2014-05-17 14:55:19
https://www.change.org/petitions/freedom-leniency-and-pardon-cecily-mcmillan-now
RT News
(May 6, 2014) — Occupy Wall Street activist Cecily McMillan was found guilty Monday of felony assault on a police officer. McMillan says a police officer forcefully grabbed one of her breasts, after which she instinctively threw her hands in the air and inadvertently elbowed the officer in the face.
Freedom, Leniency and Pardon Cecily McMillan NOW!
Dr. Linda Busch-Somach / Change.org
MT. ARLINGTON, New Jersey (May 16, 2014) — Justice betrayed! Cecily McMillan is a young woman who was sexually assaulted and then falsely arrested by a NYC police officer! She is a committed social justice advocate with no prior criminal history, yet she was then convicted of assaulting HIM and may be sentenced to seven years in jail?
The court process showed clear bias on the part of Judge Zweibel in favor of the prosecution. Evidence of the officer’s prior acts of aggression and falsification of evidence was not allowed. Video of rampant police brutality against peaceful Occupy Wall Street protesters who were gathering just to socialize the night of March 17, 2012 was not allowed.
Cecily is now at RIKER’S with NO BAIL, and has a sentencing hearing on Monday May 19.
She is not an elopement risk! She is a graduate student who plans to write her thesis on Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin!
The police were not peaceful that night and justice has not been served. 9 of the 12 jurors who sat on the jury to hear her case have even said in writing “We would ask the court to consider probation with community service. We feel that the felony mark on Cecily’s record is punishment enough.”
Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio have a history of supporting civil rights and civil liberties. How can they allow this to happen in their state? Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance must surely know that aggressively prosecuting Cecily is a waste of the city’s time and resources.
Surely the Honorable Ronald A. Zweibel knows that this incident is not worth ruining a young woman’s life or eroding our 1st and 4th Amendment Rights (Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Peaceful Assembly). The Governor can pardon Cecily; but only after many appeals.
I am a Licensed Psychologist (PhD) and a specialist in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which is probably what drew me to Cecily’s case. In my work as a psychologist I have heard MANY stories of people sexually abused by people in positions of power — whether police, doctors, teachers, priests, AND members of my own profession.
My teenage niece was also brutalized by NYC police who violated her civil rights and tried to pin felony charges on her including assaulting a police officer. Eventually everything was dropped; but I will never forget how both the assault and the arrest can impact a young person. Cecily was arrested for a natural reaction to being sexually assaulted when the plainclothes police officer grabbed her breast from behind. She is not a criminal, nor a danger to anyone.
Cecily’s sentencing is on Monday, May 19, 2014. Please sign this petition to request leniency in this case by granting her probation or time served. 9 of the 12 jurors who convicted Cecily have come forward in writing to say they do not believe she deserves to be jailed. It is now time for all of us to do the same by signing this petition.
