Sunday March 18th
Santa Monica, California    

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Santa Monica, California - Sunday March 18th, as animal activists arrived at the four hundred block of 12the Street in Santa Monica to begin a legal neighborhood protest against UCLA primate vivisector Nelson Friemer, fifteen Santa Monica Police officers assaulted several activists. These activists were thrown to the ground, placed in pain-compliance holds, and had masks ripped from their faces. The activists were then released without any explanation.

The group then set forth to begin their peaceful picket; after it ended thirty minutes later and as activists proceeded to walk back to their vehicles, Sergeant Hudson and his officers unlawfully detained two Legal Observers and confiscated their video tapes and still photos showing the initial assault by officers, and then proceeded to arrest two activists on trumped-up charges of noise violation. At this point, Sergeant Hudson pulled over a car of five young activists, forced them to get out of their vehicles and began illegally searching their car for any other still pictures or video tapes depicting the assaults. The five activists were detained for reasons Hudson refused to disclose, and legal observers (including an attorney) were refused permission to be present while officers interrogated the activists across the street.

After Hudson found a disc in their car showing the Santa Monica police assaulting protesters, he confiscated that disc as well and told the activists to leave.

Pamelyn Ferdin - one of individuals present who witnessed and documented the assaults - stated, "Santa Monica Police continue their pattern of abusing legal activists and abridging their rights to speak freely and protest. They are intimidating, harassing, and assaulting legal activists in a shameless attempt to scare them from exercising their freedom of speech in Santa Monica. The public should not tolerate such egregious behavior any longer by these public servants."

Legal observer Alison Stanley - who was detained solely to confiscate the videotape depicting the assaults as well as interviews of activists describing the assaults- commented, "Two activists were arrested forty minutes after police assaulted and battered five young protesters, claiming the two had violated a noise ordinance; but this was done not because they violated the ordinance, but because Sergeant Hudson needed a reason to search for and seize the evidence showing the illegal activities of his officers. We offered to go down to the police station and allow them to copy the tape and return the original to us; they refused. It was clear they did not want me or the attorney present to have evidence which clearly shows the police physically assaulting and battering activists upon their arrival at the demonstration." She goes on to add, "If history is any indication, the tape will be altered or erased now that it's in their hands."

Several attorneys are currently discussing a 1983 Federal Lawsuit alleging major civil rights violations and showing a pattern of abuse of activists over six months by the SMPD.

Lindy Greene, one of the activists arrested for allegedly violating the noise ordinance, stated upon her release from jail Sunday night, "The Santa Monica police are a pack of thugs embroiled in a sick power trip. Activists aren't going to stop protesting primate vivisectors who reside in Santa Monica; and the fact is, that by the SMPD violating the civil rights of - and assaulting and battering - legal activists - they succeed only in escalating the level of anger on all sides and from the public at large."