Today In New York

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That was Tim Pool's video of the arrest of this 16 year old:

whose name is Messiah, according to posts I've read about her. She's been an activist with OWS for some time, and I saw her interviewed on one of the livestreams from Union Square last night.

You see in the picture that some of her comrades are trying to "de-arrest" her, but they are not successful. In the video, though we don't see the arrest itself, and we only see part of the aftermath, we can pretty much figure how it went down. When the crowd started going back into the street, police targeted this young woman for arrest, and they made a very ostentatious show of seizing her, throwing her to the ground, trussing her up and then hauling her bodily down the middle of the street to an awaiting vehicle.

It was a very deliberate show.

Meant to intimidate. And for the most part, it worked. Despite the catcalling and insults from the crowd, they returned to the sidewalks and they didn't persist in trying to de-arrest her. That was sufficient for the NYPD to declare "victory" -- at least in their own eyes.

The march was called "Let Freedom Spring" against police brutality and calling for the immediate resignation of NY Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

This is a picture of her that was posted by Timothy Krause at dKos:


Here is another video of her being carried down the middle of the street:



From The Local East Village Vimeo Channel. Here's their story of the events:

Videographer Paul Davis, who witnessed the arrest of Mesiah Hameed on Mott Street below Prince Street around 2:50 p.m., said the teenager was obstructing police movement before she was detained. “She was blocking the scooters from going,” he said. “Civil disobedience. Somebody grabbed her, one of the deputy inspectors.”

Jared Malsin

Mr. Davis said Ms. Hameed, who has participated in multiple demonstrations and was present at the clearing of Zuccotti Park, was ordered to disperse and was arrested five to ten seconds later.

As The Local’s cameras rolled, four officers, one wearing a riot helmet, carried the young woman to a waiting police van as protesters yelled, “She’s just 16!” Her hands were cuffed behind her back and her shirt was pulled up to reveal her bra, causing one demonstrator to yell, “You are a child molester!” Others shouted, “Let her go!”

FURTHERMORE: I found the following statement by Mesiah Hameed in a post by Eve Ensler at HuffPo that is dated 10/20/11 (the post includes stories from many OWS participants, and approaching what's going on at that early date through story rather than "message" strikes me as just right.)

Excerpt:

I have read newspapers and watched videos on this revolution. Many of them share false and fabricated information regarding our purpose. What the media does not know is that the purpose is much to big to be titled. i have met everyone from in debt students to homeless grandmas. We all fight together. Personally i am here to represent the youth. It is an issue when you are not born knowing about the corruption of our systems worldwide. it should not take several years to come to reality that we are being cheated of our freedom! I was raised in such a way that even if it does not affect me i am aware and do all i can because it could very well affect me anytime or moment. I am very passionate about this movement. I wake up at Zucotti Park with such drive, an open heart, and wide ears to listen to all. I know that my passion for this sparks passion within others! This is so important for the world. We must get our youth to the protest and tell them what is happening. ALL AGES NEED TO BE APART OF THIS. we need to stop having authority over the young and let them find their own understanding of life. That is why i am here. I will stay until we see change.

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Other video of Mesiah showing her blocking a ScooterCop -- referred to in some of the news reports but not shown in Tim Pool's video above.

The question has been raised whether she was "targeted" for arrest or not. I believe she was arrested during the M17 raid and fracas at Zuccotti/Liberty, though I could be wrong about the date.

Knowing how NYPD does target what they think of as movement "leaders" for arrest -- quite arbitrarily in most cases -- it wouldn't be at all surprising.

Her actions in briefly blocking the progress of the ScooterCop might or might not subject her to arrest; but if she was targeted, arrest would be certain, and more than likely she would know it before she engaged in disobedience.