Jail Time and Activism

Dear Friends and Family,

I write this 7 days after being arrested and spending 10 hours in the Fulton County Jail for protesting the stand your ground law of Georgia. Now trust me I realize that 10 hours is a small price to pay for being arrested. Many will spend days, weeks, months, even years locked up. But I will come back to the actual experience of being in jail. First I would like to tell you why I was arrested, and what led me to willingly put my freedom at risk. I will answer these questions simply by telling the story.

On Sunday the 9th Rev. McDonald (our pastor) announced that he would be participating in an act of civil disobedience the next day, and he asked if anyone would like to join him. To be honest I didn't actual realize that meant that we were going to get arrested, but I wanted to stand against the stand your ground act. It has already taken too many lives, and I didn't want it taking more. So the next day I showed up at the church everyone was meeting for a nonviolent instructional on how the arrest would take place. I walked up to the door, and asked "Is Rev. McDonald here? I'm looking for the meeting." The two folks that answered the door greeted me by asking, "Are you here to be arrested with him?" I was a little shocked at first, but then I felt an overwhelming calm as I responded with a yes.

I was invited into a room where there were probably already fifteen or so people, and everyone was sharing their names. So I sat, and shared my name. We were filled in on how everything would work including bail and a lawyer. As I sat there I began to think of the heroes and heroins that were arrested in the Civil Rights movement. I couldn't help but to feel that many of them would have been sitting in that room with us.  The plan was in place and all that was left was to carry it out.

We left the church and headed for the legislative building where we would all crowd into Senator Stone's office requesting the repeal of the stand your ground law. But we were fully aware that there was zero chance that the law would be repealed that day. I was not fully sure what to expect as we went into the office, but what took place was a little bit of a surprise. Senator Stone refused to meet with the group, or with media present. His best offer was that 2 of the twenty-four protesters go into his office with no cameras. We were unwilling to compromise on that issue. Therefore the police were called in on the situation. At this point we were singing This Little Light of Mine, and as the cops came in the music was frustrating to them so one cop (the biggest and I'm assuming they figured the meanest) came in and yelled "SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!!!". The singing became louder. As the song ended Rev. McDonald began to speak to give us a practical pointer about the protest. The cop then tried to silence Reverend. Notice I say tried. It was almost a modern day David and Goliath. Reverend told the police officer, that we would not be intimidated, nor would we be treated or talked to like children. I was empowered by his courage and bravery. We then began to sing This Little Light of Mine again. I was once again reminded of those arrested in the Civil Rights Movement. As the song came to an end, the officers informed us that anyone that remained in the room would be arrested. We refused to leave until the law was repealed, and since we refused we were cuffed. It was a surreal experience to have the cold hard metal of hand cuffs on my wrist. We were then escorted to a conference room where the police took everyone's name and date of birth. Twenty-four names later we were then taken to the two paddy wagons and two police cars that waited to take us to the Fulton County Jail.

See David and Goliath: click here

The Jail Birds 

I was put into the back of a police car with two other men. I assume that most of my readers have never been in a police car. Let me tell you that there is not much room for two people of average height much less three men, two of which are over six feet tall. There is roughly a three inch gap between the back seat, and the metal keeping the inmate from the cop. My hands went numb on the ride over to the jail, and as I rode I realized that I was only getting a small taste of what millions go through, some multiple times because they are trapped in a broken system. We arrived at the jail around 5:30. The protest had started at 4. When we arrived at the jail we were taken into the entry room where they removed our hand cuffs and patted us down. At that point we were allowed to sit in an open room with around 100 plastic chairs in it. They gave us wrist bands for identification, and the booking process began. We were in the jail from 5:30 p.m. until 4 a.m. Our experience seemed a lot more smooth than the experiences of some of the other inmates. (but I'll tell a few of those stories in a second.) At 1:30 a.m. I was finally finger printed and my mug shot was taken with only one stop left. I believed that we would be leaving soon. Around this time the jail served a meal; we were not given any food because we were supposed to be getting processed out within the next thirty minutes or so. Instead we were escorted to a cell where we waited until 3:30 a.m. to be released. As we sat waiting for the final steps of the process to take place Reverend was reminded of a sermon he had just preached on Paul and Silas in prison, and how God had caused the doors to open so they could be free. At that point we were becoming frustrated with how long we had been kept in the final stages, and decided to gather and pray. It was a powerful experience. The nine men in the cell came together and held hands. Reverend led us in a prayer. Not even 60 seconds later the doors opened and we were freed. The last step only took about 15 minutes for all nine guys.

Now for some of the injustice and dehumanizing stories from the Fulton County Jail:

• While waiting to be processed a young man was shot with a stun gun. I did not see what led to him being stunned, but I did see that he was on the ground while the taser was still going. I felt that the continuation of the stunning was unnecessary, and the situation could have been approached differently.

• A young woman locked in one of the holding cells that surrounded the room had her hair used as a steering wheel after an altercation with some officers. An officer entered her cell, and I did not hear the conversation that took place between the two, but the young woman was not happy as the officer left the cell. The young woman was pretty verbal, and the officer was very sarcastic. The officer then asked the young woman to step out of the cell, and the woman very loudly refused. The cop then entered the cell trying to place the woman in handcuffs, and the woman physically responded pushing at the cop, which was met by two other officers coming and forcefully handcuffing the woman (which may have been necessary). The officer brought the young woman out of the cell by her hair and handcuffs. I was very saddened by this situation, both for the young woman and the officer.

• As dinner was being served I began to count the number of men in one cell. Mind you a cell is approximately 4 ft x 10 ft. and 3 of the ten is a restroom. I counted 15 men in one cell. There were two empty cells at that time. 

• My last story, There was an Asian man that had been arrested at the capital while trying to pay his water bill. He was then taken to jail, and kept for nearly 8 hours. He arrived and was told after about 5 hrs that he could post bail soon. Two hours later a shift change took place. The man was very upset (understandably). So when he was put back in a cell after he had been told he could post bail soon he tried to get an officers attention from the cell. The cop establishing his dominance in "his house" began to verbally assault and ultimately threaten to physically assault the Asian man. I would write what he said but it has quite a few expletives in it. So I'll summarize it. Not a direct quote: This is my house, and you will shut up or I'll lock you up for as long as I can. If you don't quiet down I'll come into that cell and make you. (to another officer) open the door, open the door. I'm going to take him down. Luckily the other officers refused to open the cell, and they helped to deescalate the situation. 

I wanted to share these stories because I don't believe many people know what goes on inside the jails. People are no longer people. Their humanity is stripped at the door and is replaced with a blue jumpsuit and a wrist band. They no longer have a name they become a "hey you" or You in the such and such clothing. The slightest misstep or the wrong question can issue a verbal assault or a sarcastic comment.

In the end my arrest was one of the biggest learning experiences of my life. I do not believe that this will be my last act of civil disobedience. As long as there is something to stand for, then I will stand. I believe that is what Jesus would have me do, and that has been the example of modern day prophets like Martin Luther King, Jr. It is my desire to continue to pursue his dream.

The I have a Dream Speech: Click Here

I hope that this has given you a little insight into why I was arrested and what my experience was like.

Shalom,
Adam