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REBECCA ARMENDARIZ
Friday, November 28, 2008
The
YouTube
video
was
an
instant
hit
in
the
gay
blogosphere.
Three
Los
Angeles
police
officers
were
shown
on
live
television
approaching
a
Proposition
8
protester
who
had
broken
through
a
police
line.
Officers
then
took
the
man
down,
hitting
him
with
batons
before
arresting
him.
The
man
was
Kevin
Miniter,
25,
a
gay
activist.
And
in
his
first
interview
about
the
Nov.
5
incident,
which
was
captured
on
video
by
a
local
TV
news
helicopter
crew,
Miniter
told
the
Blade
that
events
culminating
in
his
arrest
began
earlier
that
day.
A
former
D.C.
resident
who
recently
moved
to
Los
Angeles,
Miniter
said
he
learned
at
work
that
people
were
plan
ning
to
rally
against
the
measure
that
bars
same-sex
couples
from
marrying.
That
evening,
he
headed
to
the
rally’s
starting
point
in
West
Hollywood.
Miniter
said
the
rally
quickly
turned
into
an
expansive
protest
that
looped
throughout
West
Hollywood
and
into
Hollywood,
spanning
an
estimated
2.5
miles.
The
crowd
was
so
large,
Miniter
said,
that
several
Los
Angeles
police
officers
were
ushering
marchers
along
their
route.
“There
were
definitely
some
[officers]
who
were
helpful
and
continue
to
be
very
helpful,”
he
said.
But
at
the
intersection
of
Hollywood
Boulevard
and
Highland
Avenue,
a
police
barricade
and
line
of
officers
were
waiting.
Miniter
said
some
protesters
began
to
push
through
the
barrier
so
they
could
continue
marching.
A
handful
of
protesters
broke
through
the
line,
which
is
visible
in
news
video
of
the
protest.
“We
did
the
whole,
‘OK,
let’s
go!
One,
two,
three,’”
Miniter
said.
Although
one
protester
was
able
to
make
it
as
far
as
a
nearby
squad
car
—
climbing
atop
and
cheering
on
it
—
Miniter
said
three
Los
Angeles
police
officers
quickly
grabbed
him
as
he
broke
through
the
line.
Miniter
said
he
didn’t
resist
when
the
officers
grabbed
him,
but
two
nonetheless
struck
him
with
batons.
“I
completely
acquiesced,
I
didn’t
fight
back,
I
didn’t
do
anything,”
he
said.
“My
first
instinct
was
to
put
my
hands
over
my
head
and
try
to
crouch
down
while
all
of
this
was
happening.”
Miniter
was
pulled
to
the
ground
and
hit
a
few
more
times
before
he
was
handcuffed
and
put
into
a
patrol
car
with
three
other
people.
It
was
then,
he
said,
that
he
was
first
able
to
assess
the
damage.
Miniter
said
a
deep
cut
on
his
leg
was
bleeding,
and
there
were
bruises
on
his
legs
and
back.
“The
bruises
on
my
back
are
pretty
significant
because
they
signify
that
I
was
definitely
being
hit
on
my
back
while
I
was
trying
to
protect
myself,”
he
said.
‘A
very,
very
bizarre
system’
Miniter
said
he
was
taken
to
the
Hollywood
Community
Police
Station
and
handcuffed
to
a
police
bench
for
four
hours
while
his
leg
continued
to
bleed.
Officers
then
separated
the
four
people
that
were
arrested,
Miniter
said,
and
took
him
to
the
Los
Angeles
County
Jail.
He
noted
that
he
saw
a
doctor
around
3
a.m.
Miniter
said
an
officer
eventually
told
him
that
he
was
being
charged
with
a
felony
—
resisting
arrest
—
and
being
held
pending
$25,000
bail.
He
said
he
was
in
his
jail
cell
throughout
the
day
Nov.
6.
The
next
morning,
he
was
told
that
he
would
have
a
court
date
and
officers
moved
him
to
the
court
building,
where
he
was
put
into
a
cell
with
about
15
other
inmates
who
were
waiting
to
appear
before
a
judge.
Two
of
the
other
protesters
were
placed
in
the
cell
with
him
and
told
him
they
were
being
held
pending
$50,000
bail
for
lynching
and
attempted
lynching.
Miniter
said
he
was
kept
in
the
holding
cell
until
6
p.m.,
when
he
and
the
two
other
protesters
with
him
were
brought
into
another
room
and
told
that
they
were
being
released.
“I
was
never
seen
in
the
court,
I
never
got
to
see
a
court-appointed
public
defender,
I
was
never
arraigned
for
any
of
these
charges
that
they
threw
at
us,”
he
said.
“They
charged
us,
held
us,
and
then
after
a
few
days,
released
us.
And
they
had
separated
all
of
us
so
we
wouldn’t
have
contact.
It
was
a
very,
very
bizarre
system.”
The
Los
Angeles
Police
Department
declined
to
comment
on
Miniter’s
case.
‘It
was
wrong’
Since
he
was
released
Nov.
7,
Miniter
claims
he’s
had
trouble
sleeping.
“I
would
have
these
sort
of
weird
fits
of
staring
off
into
the
distance
not
knowing
what
was
right
or
real
anymore,”
he
said.
Even
after
being
released
from
jail,
Miniter
said
he
wasn’t
sure
if
the
charges
had
been
fully
dropped;
police
released
him
without
clarifying
the
status
of
his
case.
But
he
noted
that
every
lawyer
he’s
spoken
with
has
told
him
that
since
there
is
no
court
date
scheduled,
he’s
in
the
clear.
Miniter
said
one
of
the
lawyers
who
spoke
with
him
told
him,
“It
was
wrong
what
they
did
to
you.”
He
noted
that
he’s
talked
further
with
that
lawyer
about
his
case
and
is
considering
legal
action.
Miniter
also
is
discussing
his
situation
with
the
American
Civil
Liberties
Union.
Miniter
said
the
lawyer
he’s
working
with
told
him
that
the
Los
Angeles
officers
used
excessive
force,
and
violated
his
civil
rights
by
holding
him
and
not
charging
him.
Despite
the
experience,
Miniter
said
he’s
not
abandoned
his
activist
work
and
has
protested
the
Mormon
Church’s
donations
to
the
“Yes
on
8”
campaign.
“I’m
also
desperately,
desperately
hoping
that
the
California
Supreme
Court
decides
to
overturn
Proposition
8,”
he
said.
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