At a protest on Sept. 27, 2002, 400 people - including one AU student - were wrongly arrested, according to a report released March 11 by a special commission of the D.C. Council. According to a lawsuit filed by two groups, the arrested were held in hand-cuffs by the Metropolitan Police Department for between three and 24 hours.
The MPD also tried to cover up officers' actions at the protest, according to the report. Originally, police claimed that protesters refused to obey an order to disperse, but it was later concluded that the police never gave that order and instead arrested the protesters without fair warning. It was later concluded that the MPD's investigation into the incident was unfair and biased.
It is regrettable that the MPD had a lapse in judgment and arrested protesters without fair warning. But what is unforgivable, not to mention completely unnecessary, is that the MPD didn't resolve the conflict and instead chose to cover it up.
Police officers occupy a special place in a democratic society. They are sworn to defend and uphold the law, to protect citizens and to be the first line of justice for the innocent. That the MPD would violate its special role, first foolishly and then stupidly, needlessly sullies the police's reputation.
While The Eagle is not sure of the solution to this problem, we hope that justice will be served to the protesters and that the MPD will admit its error and claim full responsibility for its actions. D.C. sees more protests than some cities see daylight, and the idea that the police didn't know how to deal with protesters is odd and inexcusable.
The Eagle hopes that the MPD has learned from this incident and will proceed in the future with a more mature attitude toward its serious and indispensable role in society. If we can't trust our police officers to do the right thing, then the justice they defend is worth nothing.
