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 Protest arrest irks lawmaker in Conn. 09/14/00 - by Linda K. Harris and Craig R. McCoy - Philadelphia Inquirer At least one Republican is not happy about the way protesters were treated during the Republican National Convention. She's four-term Connecticut State Sen. Catherine W. Cook, whose 27-year-old son, Adam, was among the 75 people arrested Aug. 1 in the so-called puppet warehouse at 4100 Haverford Ave. in West Philadelphia. "I'm not sure people understood that there were really attempts to abrogate people's civil rights," Cook said. "I don't think people knew." Adam Cook, who is out on $30,000 bail, is among the 109 protesters scheduled for pretrial court appearances Saturday in the Criminal Justice Center on Filbert Street. Most of them face misdemeanor charges related to the protests last month, but a few have been charged with felonies. Cook and the others arrested in the warehouse - where, police have said, illegal protest activities were planned - were charged with nine misdemeanor counts, including conspiracy and recklessly endangering another person. The remainder of the protesters, about 280, will be brought to the Criminal Justice Center on Sept. 23 and Sept. 30. Trial dates will be assigned then. Municipal Court Judge Robert S. Blasi said he scheduled the pretrial conferences and preliminary hearings on the weekend to avoid clogging busy weekday schedules. "I felt this was the easiest way," Blasi said. "It costs me a few bucks in overtime, but I thought it was better to keep it this way. It's easier to schedule." Catherine Cook serves as assistant minority leader in the Connecticut Senate and is the ranking member of the General Assembly Human Services Committee. "I have stayed out of it in any role other than a concerned mother," Cook said in a telephone interview this week. "I know my son, and I know he was making puppets. "We were certainly distressed that we couldn't see the search warrant early on. I'm personally very distressed at the treatment my son described after he was taken into custody. That would not be tolerated in my state. He wasn't guilty of a crime and still isn't." Adam Cook said that after his release, "we had a really interesting family discussion. It lasted about six hours. We all fundamentally agreed on what needed to be changed. We obviously disagreed on methods and ways of going about doing things." Bradley Bridge, a senior member of the city public defender's office, said Municipal Court President Judge Louis J. Presenza had allowed lawyers to accept the court dates for trial on behalf of their clients. "Judge Presenza graciously agreed that we can accept service on behalf of individuals for whom it would be a hardship to come to Philadelphia for a pretrial," Bridge said. Some of those arrested will be coming back to Philadelphia anyway, including a couple from Texas. Scott Haws and his wife, Ann Harkness, who own a business in Dallas, were en route to a protest when their van was stopped. Seventeen people inside were arrested, and police confiscated the van. The couple were charged with misdemeanors. Representatives from nine protest groups delivered a letter yesterday to Police Commissioner John F. Timoney after a news conference in front of Police Headquarters. "We demand specific verification as to past and current surveillance and infiltration, and demand that all infiltration, surveillance and harassment stop immediately," the letter read. The letter advised that if the groups did not receive a response from the commission within 48 hours, they would consider it "an admission that surveillance and infiltration is currently occurring." The letter was signed by the R2K Legal Defense Committee, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, ACTUP Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Direct Action Group, the Ruckus Society, the International Action Center, Refuse and Resist, the International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the Independent Media Center. "The commissioner has stated that there was not any infiltration during the RNC, nor is there any now," said Sgt. Roland Lee, a police spokesman. "During the RNC, we did use surveillance and observers for protest groups, but they are not in effect now." The protest groups were responding to information revealed last week when probable-cause affidavits were made public for the search warrant used at 4100 Haverford Ave., where the puppets and signs were constructed. The documents indicate that the state police had infiltrated protest groups before the convention. Lee said officials had no comment on the state police admission that Philadelphia police knew about the infiltration beforehand. |
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