By Michael "Mookie" Moss, ACLU plaintiff
In March of this year, the Jacksonville police riot celebrates its almost-tenth anniversary by taking a trip to Washington D.C. and landing on the desk of the United States Supreme Court. Under review by the high court is whether the respondents (me and my fellow plaintiff demonstrators) sufficiently alleged there was clear First Amendment discrimination on the part of the Secret Service and whether the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals erred when it denied the Secret Service qualified immunity for its role in the events that took place nearly 10 years ago.
For those present that night in Jacksonville, the answer to the question of First Amendment discrimination couldn’t be clearer. The large multigenerational group of anti-Bush demonstrators assembled in front of the Jacksonville Inn faced police-fired projectiles which were filled with chemical irritants, canisters of hand held pepper spray, and submission by baton, while the pro-Bush crowd equidistant from the dining President faced not a word of admonishment.
My experience that night began after finishing evening farm chores and hustling down the hill to join the unwelcoming party already in full swing. George W. Bush, embroiled in controversy and just weeks away from his re-election bid, had spent the day stumping in Medford and rallying his base. With a dubious foreign war gathering steam, and a series of hotly debated domestic policies surrounding resource extraction (which profoundly affected our rural community), emotion in the crowd was palpable. The demonstration, crafted by organizers Shelley Elkovich and Anna Vine, had been billed as a family friendly gathering aimed at sending a strong message to the visiting President. Earlier, Anna and Shelley had cleared this demonstration with police Chief Towe of Jacksonville and Sheriff Winters of Jackson County. By assuring the police the demonstration would remain on the sidewalk and be law abiding, they received permission from city and county law enforcement. Shortly after my arrival and inclusion in the crowd of 250 plus strong, word circulated that the President had changed his original plans and was now dining in the restaurant adjacent to our rally. This new information only fueled excitement by making it clear that our words and presence could undoubtedly be heard and felt by the President. This enthusiasm was met with ominous signs of what was to come.
With helicopters buzzing overhead, throngs of police clad in full battle regalia arrived on an armored personnel carrier. One particular group wearing balaclavas, with their badges and names covered in black cloth, oriented themselves several lines deep on the same sidewalk we had been permitted to use. As the riot police began sweeping down the sidewalk they created a bottleneck and citizens of all ages began to be pushed off the curb and into the street. This was in direct conflict with what the event organizers had pre-arranged with police. Order and exuberance were replaced by chaos and fear. In the ensuing melee, an elderly man was pushed to the ground by the first line of police, I was shot multiple times at close range with ‘less lethal’ rounds and then beaten with a baton. A young mother and her toddler were pepper sprayed, and countless other individuals faced serious physical and later psychological injury. All of this violence was without provocation. On October 14, 2004 the police had come for a fight.
Sadly, it was not the police’s escalation of violence that night in Jacksonville that makes this incident unique. What made that night in Jacksonville different was that while we faced police violence under the guise of Presidential protection, the pro-Bush crowd who could have posed an equal hypothetical threat was untouched. We again learned that the criminalization of dissent can still rear its ugly face at any time and when it does, it often is enforced with a violent hand.
Ten years of Moss v. Secret Service has been a potent reminder that the process of seeking justice can be as powerful as the outcome of that search. In challenging the immunity and lack of constitutional accountability of individuals operating under the cover of government secrecy, this case continues to set precedent while addressing one of the darker corners of our legal system. If those in power are actively or passively given permission to act without accountability, abuse of our most basic rights will continue to occur.
Moss v. Secret Service (now Wood v. Moss) goes before the Supreme Court on March 26, 2014.
Michael “Mookie” Moss raises goats and farms in Jackson County and he is the lead plaintiff in our lawsuit. Mookie plans to attend the argument at the U.S. Supreme Court.