The Protestors' Diary: Farnam Street Bridge

Originally reported on by NOISE. Listen to this special edition episode on Apple or Spotify podcasts and support the show on Patreon.

Produced by Emily Chen-Newton in collaboration with NOISE, Figure Podcasts, and Hi Omaha.

Dawaune Lamont Hayes [00:00:07] I'm Dawaune Lamont Hayes, founder of NOISE, North Omaha Information Support Everyone. We are collaborating with Hi Omaha and Figure Podcasts to bring you the Melee community news show. But this is a special breakout episode as a response to the mass arrests made on the Farnam Street Bridge on the 25th in 26th of July, where over 100 citizens were arrested because, as it is cited in the Omaha World Herald, the gathering, quote, "leaned toward the potential of getting violent". Up to five were arrested for, quote, "suspicion of resisting arrest". As of this recording, July twenty-ninth 2020, the Omaha Police Department maintains that, quote, "The assembly was unlawful... And at least 10 clearly audible warnings were given to the group". Also, as of this date, the ACLU of Nebraska says that state law was violated by the issuing of mass arrests instead of citations. As a direct response to limited representation of the protestors perspectives in much of the local media from that night, we present to you "The Protestors’ Diary: Farnam Street Bridge". This is a collection of audio diary entries from protestors, medics, and a legal observer who were on the Farnam Street bridge the night of July 25th, 2020. These are their experiences as they remember them and are not edited in any way.

Riley Wilson [00:01:29] My name is Riley Wilson, and I was the legal observer who was arrested on Saturday night during the mass arrests in Omaha, Nebraska, a legal observer watches interactions between police and protestors and takes documentation of that. Legal observers don't have any special rights. They are bound to these same rules, laws as anybody else. So I took extra care to ensure that I was following all the laws by walking on the sidewalk and waiting for the crosswalk to tell me when to walk and things like that. On Saturday night, I arrived at Turner Park at seven-thirty, where there were already about 100 people gathered for the protests, which was as a memory of James Scurlock and also to be in solidarity with protestors in Portland, Oregon. Shortly after that, maybe forty five minutes or so, Bear Alexander directed the crowd through the street down towards downtown. During that time, the police were escorting the protestors. Once the protestors got downtown, they decided to turn around and go back towards Turner Park in Midtown, where the rally began. Police continue to provide escort throughout their way back toward towards Turner Park. When they were about to, the protestors were about two blocks away from where the first the rally started. They passed over a bridge. And once on the bridge, police cut them off from the front and the back using the cruisers as barricades. They got out of their vehicles. They told everybody that they were being arrested. They first attacked Mark Vondrosick off of his bike and shot him with pepper balls. Shortly after that, they attacked Bear Alexander, while he had his hands up and was saying that he was peacefully protesting. Shortly after that, I was also knocked to the ground by a police officer who put his hand on my upper right arm and kick-swiped me to the ground. All of that occurred between nine thirty eight p.m. and nine forty p.m. I was then arrested on the bridge, put in zip-ties and remained in zip ties for roughly two hours.

Conner [00:03:58] My name's Connor. And I was one of the protestors on Saturday night. And when the police showed up, we all scattered over the sides onto the sidewalk. We jumped over the guardrails over there. And after that, I started hearing a lot of firing at the protestors. I think only a couple of people actually got hit by any sort of pepper balls. It was definitely more than one...like they're saying in the news after that went down and some people started getting arrested for resisting arrest, which they weren't even sure, the officers ran over the side and I was behind the legal observer and they swiped his leg and pushed him to the ground in front of me and then pointed a pepper ball gun, I believe had both of us and told us to get and then told everybody else to get on the ground.

Hally [00:04:56] My name is Hally. On July 25th, I participated in a nonviolent protest that was held in Omaha, Nebraska, at an area of town called Midtown Crossing. From eight o'clock until eight, forty-five protestors stood on the corners, myself included, following chants and in solidarity with protestors in Portland for the Black Lives Matter movement, and for our local injustice in losing James Scurlock. At approximately eight forty-five, the crowd of 200 began to protest in the streets, marching east-bound on Farnam Street. I did feel the police presence around us at that time as we began moving into the downtown Old Market area. It was noticeable as we came to each intersection looking to our east and looking...excuse me, looking to our north and looking to our south: the police presence was there at the following block, almost like a funeral procession. One car would meet us at the intersection. The next patrol car would move forward to the next intersection, blocking traffic and in my mind, guiding us safely as we were protesting and exercising our First Amendment right. As we circled the downtown business area through Omaha nightlife and returning back to the original location on Farnam...the police, we knew that they were behind us escorting us from behind as well. Around three or four police cars were following us as we were proceeding through the old market and returning west on Farnam, heading back to the original protest...protest site. We were met with faster-moving police vehicles as we exited the downtown area.

Jacob [00:06:49] My name is Jacob. I was arrested on the night of July 25th, 2020, along with about one hundred thirty other peaceful protestors on the Farnam Street overpass in Omaha, Nebraska, about 10 p.m. we were placed in zip-ties. It was there that we waited a couple of hours to be transported to Douglas Corrections Facility. When we arrived there, we sat in the parking lot for another two hours or so, waiting to be placed into booking. Now, I was booked at four forty-seven a.m., so I spent approximately six to seven hours in zip-ties before I was booked. I was with an individual in the garage complaining of two tight of zip-ties and not being able to feel their shoulders. It was then an officer pulled her zip ties tighter and took off another inmate's zip ties. After booked, it was then I was booked and after that I noticed that trans individuals were placed in solitary confinement cells and not given phone time like the rest of the protestors. So once we were booked, we were shuffled around between general processing area and we'll call it isolation pod one. There was an incident. I'm not sure what happened, which led to all 43 male inmates ordered into the 10 by 20-foot pod one. While in pod one, the air became stuffy and hot and unbearable for some. There was one toilet and one sink. The toilet had urine and vomit splashed around the outside. It became harder to breathe and the correctional officers watched from behind their desk, smiling at us when we pleaded with them for fresh air or to open the door so we could get some circulation going. At one point, a female inmate was grabbed by four correctional officers and drug across our viewpoint. The inmate was screaming, Stop touching me and let me go.

Lee [00:09:07] My name is Lee, and on the morning of the 26th, I was in a booking cell in Douglas County Corrections Headquarters. And all morning I kept asking for the phone call. I would either be told no, and that I could get a call in a couple of minutes and then the officer would leave and never come back or I will just be completely ignored. I started to get really frustrated that I was being ignored and just lied to. So I started waving my arms and knocking on the windows. And I did that for about an hour before four officers came up to the door and unlocked it. One of the officers being the officer who aggressively dragged me around the parking lot earlier in the night, and they open the door and I said, "let's go, go done" and pointed at me. And I said, "What? And they repeated it. They said, "you're done, let's go." And I said, "that's not an answer". And before I could do anything, all four officers jumped on me, grabbed my arms and my hands to pull me back. One officer grabbing me by my throat and squeezing as tight as he could. They dragged me down to a solitary cell and threw me in there for about 20 minutes. I... When I was in the solitary cell, I kept begging and yelling and screaming for a lawyer and telling them that they couldn't touch me like this. And eventually, the officers came back, asked me to face the wall, put my hands on my back. I did. They cuffed me with metal handcuffs, and one of the officers put my orange corrections T-shirt, like around my neck because I was wearing a different one underneath. And they once again jumped on me. The officers grabbed my throat again and my arms and dragged me down to take my mug shots done. And as they were getting my mug shots done, they were...One of them had the back of my head and was slamming it into a metal wall. A bunch of other officers were body slamming me into that same wall. I had the same officer who was choking me, she got behind me and grabbed the T-shirt and pulled it as tight as she could around my neck so I couldn't breathe. And this was in the view of every single male protestor that was still in that room at that time, because you took these photos right in front of that cell. And in that window. And they also were taking pictures. Again, like I said. And one of the pictures was of the officer that was choking me, and they told her to delete it and take a new one. Later on, I asked if I could get a copy of those pictures because I saw that they printed on one of...one of my legal papers. And I said, can I get a picture of that before you put new ones in? And they said no. So I said, Can I get it..How do I get that obtained? And they said, I could get a subpoena.

Karen [00:11:58] My name is Karen and I'm one of the protestors arrested last weekend. We were almost across the bridge when the cops pulled up in cars and blocked the end of the bridge. There were cops in camo pants and tan shirts and bulletproof vests that had guns pointed at us, I think, and were screaming at us to get down. I was pinned between a cement barricade and the overpass fence on the sidewalk with protestors blocking either side of me. And the person next to me was hiding behind their protest sign, all curled up into a ball. Meantime, meanwhile, my partner was standing up looking for a way out and the cops were screaming at him to get down in a way that really made me think they were going to shoot him. So I grabbed his hand to pull him down. And when he finally crouched down beside me, I whispered to him to text our lawyer friend really quickly before they could handcuff us. We got separated somehow while we were being handcuffed. And I remember a police officer zip-tying my hands and having me sit down and just like how hot the cement was and how there was really no comfortable way to sit with my hands behind me and my wrists starting to swell and strain against the ties from a whole day walking around in the sun. And just there was no way I could have predicted that we would have been zip tied on hot cement six hours later in the Douglas County Correction Center parking lot.

Emma [00:13:52] Hi, my name is Emma: Pronouns, she, her, hers, and I'm a white woman. I was arrested for protesting on Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska, on the 25th with over 100 others. I spent seven hours outside restrained by zip-ties after I was arrested. We were not allowed bathroom breaks. We had to demand water, which was not given to us safely, considering we're in the midst of of of a pandemic, we were denied information about how long we would be waiting outside in restraints. And just from the moment, we were arrested, cops and correctional officers treated us with just utter contempt or irritation or even hatred, it felt like. And it was as if every request for information or basic necessities was unreasonable or outrageous. Several officers explicitly told us that this experience was intended to discourage us from protesting and speaking out against police violence. But I know for myself and from others that I've spoken to, this did nothing but strengthen our convictions. For many of us, it was our first arrest, our first experience being detained. Many of us were white. We just never had this experience before. And we now know what it feels like to be brutalized and mistreated by law enforcement. So I just want to say that we are more dedicated to this fight than ever and we will not stop fighting. And I'm actually really grateful for being shown exactly why we're fighting.

Bear [00:15:40] My name is Bear. I was in the front of the march as all of the protestors finally got onto the bridge on Farnam Street. That's when we were "Kettled" by the police officers. No exits whatsoever. Then as Mark is riding his bike, that's when the police knocked him off his bike and started pepper balling him. And then another person came to kind of block the pepper balls and they started pepper balling him as well. I was on my megaphone trying to bring up the morale and trying to tell everybody, like, "don't.. don't quiver. Keep your head high. Don't let them ...dont let them put fear in you." And I started...or I wanted to bring chants into it as well, just to bring the morale of in a demoralizing situation. That's when the officer said, get the guy with the megaphone. They grabbed my wrist. They started kneeing me in the ribs, was standing up. They threw me on the ground, started Kneeing my ribs again. They put me for resisting arrest. I'm actually going to the doctor today to check on a dislocated rib.

Cole [00:16:45] My name is Cole. As our protest neared its end and we began to cross an overpass and be able to view the protesteors vehicles. We were suddenly surrounded on both sides of the overpass by police vehicles and officers on foot. They began to announce that we were all being arrested and we asked specifically what charges we were being arrested for. And at this point, I was told to, in response, "get on the fucking ground". And when I asked again, the same answer was given just louder in response to me asking a third time, the officers began to open fire with their pepper pellet rifles, shooting me in the back repeatedly from a point-blank range, as I tried to move out of the way of the pellet fire, I was then clotheslined by an officer and tackled with him by three others and then taken to the jail, being labeled an instigator.

July [00:17:47] Hi, my name is July and I'm a Nebraska licensed RN. I was one of the street medics who worked the protests on Saturday night, July 25th. At one point in the night when the protest group finally marched down to the market area, our medics group actually got separated from the protestors. There were three of us on duty that night. We quickly realized it was becoming too risky and unsafe for us to be there, given the high police presence. So we decided to discontinue our medic duties. One of us went home and two of us, James and I, ended up driving back to the scene. Off duty. So we were there no longer medicating, but to find and support our loved ones. When we learned that some of them were starting to get detained and arrested. We arrived at the west side of the Farnam Street Bridge at around nine forty-five, just a bit before 10:00 p.m. When we got there, we saw there was a large presence of police vehicles and officers and police tape lines, so we stayed on the other side looking at the group of detainees that were sitting on the ground. At this time, they have blocked off all traffic and the only vehicles there were theirs. I was looking at the scene and seeing what was going on, and I didn't realize that it has stepped one foot off the sidewalk onto the street and officer saw it immediately and shouted at me and says, quote, "Get off the streets or you might get run over by a car". end quote. Again, the only vehicles there were there's. I didn't realize that this was a threat until another observer told me that they had ripped through some police tape with their vehicle just a few minutes ago. About 30 minutes later, the police got agitated from us screaming and chanting for our loved ones. So they approached us as a group and pushed us back half a block. I was able to talk to an officer. I didn't get his name or badge number. I asked him, sir,  "at what point do you start shooting us with the pepper ball gun that several of you are carrying? What are my boundaries? So I know not to cross them and get shot?" He said, and I quote, "We wouldn't just start shooting you. We don't do that. We will shoot the balls off the street".  Again, this would have been around 10:30. Now we know that that was about an hour after the police swarmed and shot the pepper balls at people. When asked if we would get kidnaped by the police, if we need to leave in our cars were the taped off area, an officer answered, "yeah, on this block of town, you probably get kidnaped". I felt that this was very inappropriate statement.

Jordan [00:20:21] My name is Jordan, and this is my account of what ended up happening. We were all at the end of the road because we had already walked downtown and walked back over to the Farnam Street Bridge. Our cars were up the street, which I didn't even into having a car. I walked there. I just was ready to go home. But we got there and the cops were like, we are all under arrest for this unlawful protest. And they bum-rushed Bear Alexander. They ended up bum-rushing and just everybody. They ended up getting...getting after everybody and then shooting me up a bunch of times with pepper spray. And they ended up in zip-tying me. And because it was hot and because my stomach was sweaty, I didn't really have welts on me, but the pepper spray spread all over my body and then it ended up spreading down my chest, down my arms, down my legs and in my crotch. And it was the worst pain I ever experienced. It took them about an hour for them, or maybe even more than an hour for them to get an ambulance over to take care of me. And they ended up putting saline down my forehead and giving me a rag to wipe myself off with saline. And it made it a lot worse. A lot worse. And then, so then they kept me waiting for the police cruiser cause, you know...everything was moving incredibly slow. And I was just sitting there wallowing in that pain for I don't even know how long. And it took another hour for that...that cruiser to come. And it was just how hard. It was very hard.

Daniel [00:22:24] My name's Daniel. And I was arrested by the Omaha Police Department on July 25th. By the time we were taken to Douglas County Corrections, we'd been restrained in zip-ties for a couple hours. The pain on my shoulders was piercing and I thought I was going to pass out after being in the heat for hours already, I was dehydrated and no one was given water until we begged them. Many cops are standing around smiling and laughing at us. It was sadistic how they actually took pleasure from our pain. By the time I was taken inside Douglas County Corrections, it was a few hours later. I couldn't even raise my right arm is in so much pain, I thought my shoulder was dislocated. Three and a half days later, I still don't have full mobility or feeling in my right hand and arm. Inside, 40 plus people are packed in the small rooms were given only, we're only given access to water and bathrooms, if the officers felt like it. A young girl was even slammed against a wall and restrained for wanting a phone call. They smirked and had no empathy whatsoever.

Andrew [00:23:37] My name is Andrew. These are some emphasis, some of the events I witnessed. I was zip-tied for approximately seven hours and suffered friction burns and blisters on my right wrist. I witnessed complaints of mistreatment, met with derision from officers. People were denied water for approximately five hours while detained outside in the heat. Many expressed shoulder problems. One man particularly expressed that his shoulder was recovering from a recent injury and the restraints were exacerbating his pain. His grievances were not addressed. Another individual fainted from heat exhaustion. When asked they wish to go to the hospital. They answered no, was forced to go regardless, and was later returned to Douglas County. Personal masks were confiscated with other possessions used, laundered masks were issued to all detainees. The nightshift CEOs were not wearing masks, nor did they enforce detainees to wear theirs. Most did, regardless. We were detained in a temporary holding cell, consistently exceeding capacity. At one point forty-three men were confined to a temporary holding cell for more than two hours. The room quickly became hot and thick with humidity from our breathing. There was no air current and concerns about the transmission of the Coronavirus were met with continued derision and dismissal. I was detained a total of twenty-five hours.

Brooke [00:24:56] My name is Brooke, and I was one of the final to be arrested on the bridge and taken to the jail's parking about 11:00 p.m. Where I sat with about 30 to 35 others for hours on the hot pavement with the pepper spray residue on my mask, irritating me the whole time. We asked repeatedly for water. It was finally brought, but only after we kind of had to yell as a group about it. One woman cannot get an officer officer to respond to her request to use the bathroom for like ten minutes, so she had to urinate herself and then was forced to sit in those clothes until she could until she was brought into the jail to change. One officer took a picture of us and texted it to someone. Another was overheard saying, stick to the plan. He was gonna be the good cop while the other was gonna be the bad cop. I was finally brought into the building at two-thirty a.m., but was kept in a stifling hot garage parking garage. Water was provided if requested. A fan was there, but I several times had to go sit in front of it because I was starting to experience the effects of heat exhaustion, like nausea and feeling faint at this point, after having our zip ties on for hours. One woman who was in tears asked an officer to loosen her zip-ties because they were cutting off her circulation. Like you could see that her fingers and hands were turning blue. And the officer instead tightened them.

Jordon [00:26:23] My name is Jordan and this is my...this is my account of what happened when I was actually at the center, the detention center. So I had already been shot and pelted with those...those... basically the pepper balls. And they ended up walking me in and it was already an hour before we ended up actually getting in because there was all this, again, more processes for them to drag out, for us to even be able to get in. But finally, when we ended up getting into the area right before processing there, there was a bathroom, so I ended up going and trying to wash myself off and wipe myself off. And the pain got much worse. And it spread into my crotch and my legs and my chest. Everywhere else he got really bad and I asked for help. So they went and got a nurse and a police officer and the nurse and the police officer were like, well, milk would probably help. And one of them was like, "I don't have milk". Another one was like, "well, I don't have milk". And they all just walked out, kind of went about their day. And I had my I remember just being on the corner, having my arms spread out on the...on the window, my legs spread because any movement in my crotch or my arms or my legs or anywhere just felt... It felt like I wanted to die pretty much. And so they didn't expedite me. They didn't give me ibuprofen. They gave me water. But I mean, that was just water that they...I'm pretty sure that was why they just ended up taking from us. And so I went through the processing. They brought me inside. They put me in a room with ten or twelve other people at first. We were just kind of mentally working through everything, trying to determine what the next move was talked about, the bail number, all of that stuff. And then they ended up essentially telling us that, you know, there were issues or whatever with the system and it just kept dragging on. We didn't get a clear, concise idea as to how long everything was going to end up being, how all the entire time we were there. There was excuse after excuse for everything. So it was a bad... It was a wild experience. It was a wild experience.

Paviellee [00:29:04] Hi, my name is Paviellee and I was held on the 25th and the 26th in Omaha, Nebraska. I have a serious medical condition and I was told that if I let everyone be aware of that, that I would be given my medication and I would be treated accordingly. The first nurse gave me Tylenol and ibuprofen. Secondly, when I told the white female sergeant about it, she told me I needed a doctor's prescription for ibuprofen. She locked me back in solitary for my migraine and she would let me back out. There is a whole rigmarole about how I had been given ibuprofen earlier, but she wouldn't give it to me then. She wouldn't let me see the nurse, the second shift nurse. I had a migraine that was making me cry and I was pretty much in solitary the whole time, except for when we were in the magic room that could have fit all of the women and they wouldn't let us in there. So.. not as a whole at least, they would let part of us in there. So thank you.

Gavin [00:30:25] My name is Gavin. I was arrested around 10 p.m. on Saturday, July 25th, for peacefully protesting. After being taken to the jail, we waited outside in the heat and were refused water and medical attention for at least two to three hours. During that time, I was told that the system routinely crashes at three a.m... About 3:00 a.m. Sunday, I went through pre-booking. I was then moved into cell one for almost five to six hours, in which the final three hours held forty-three men and a 10 by 20 foot space during a pandemic. On public record, it states I was booked at 9:18 a.m. Sunday. I wasn't. Instead, I filled out an emergency contact form in which I politely had one concern, and because of that, I was put into a solitary cell with three other men in a nine by six-foot space. Almost one hour later, at about 10 a.m., I finally completed the booking process. My release is publicly stated to be at 11:37 p.m. Sunday, July 26. This wasn't true on Monday, July 27th, that 12:48 am,  a family member received a call from me within the facility letting them know that I had not been released or signed any forms and did not know how much longer I would be detained. At 1:54a.m. that same Monday, my family member received a text stating I was released. You know, for a Justice Department that receives the majority of the city budget, they sure do have a lot of system and personnel failures.

James [00:32:32] My name is James. I was a medic on July 25th. As we waited outside of Douglas County Corrections, we had no ability to verify who exactly was in custody. We were dismissed and given misleading information for hours. Ten plus hours passed before receiving phone calls from our loved ones. And this was when we found out they were in dangerous circumstances. Many of us had to use our 60 seconds to help other families verify that their loved ones were inside. They did not attempt to communicate with the individuals there waiting until after 3:00 p.m. the following day. This was when the director expressed their intention to use carbon paperwork to complete processing. Knowing we had been waiting upwards of 15 hours with cash for every detainee, knowing the volume that they would be processing and that they would be having, that they would not have a functioning system, they waited over 15 hours to use carbon copies that they had for this purpose exactly. We didn't feel safe or like we knew what was going on.

Mergo [00:33:44] I'm Mergo. A police officer came, to escort me out, into our solitary confinement cell where there are two trans women and said, "follow me, sir". And I just look at him and say, "I'm not a sir, I'm a girl". And he got directly in my face and said, "Do you want to leave or not?" And I stood up and said, "Well, call me ma'am. I'm not a sir." And I was right in the door, right in the door frame. And I...he slammed the door right in my face. And a huge, huge steel door of our cell. And I put my hand up instinctively and, like, slammed on the door to stop it. And the force of that big, big guy force of that, like, knocked me back into the toilet against the wall and have a huge bruise on my arm. And just like, started just sobbing. And it took another hour and a half for them to come get me to kick me out.

Riley Wilson [00:35:16] My name is Riley Wilson. I was the legal observer who was arrested on Saturday night with protestors in Omaha, Nebraska. I was zip-tied on the bridge where the arrest occurred, and I remained there in zip-ties for roughly two hours before being taken to Douglas County Corrections, where I remained in zip-ties with many protestors for approximately four hours. So I was tied for roughly six hours total before beginning the booking process. Once inside of Douglas County Corrections, I was placed in a "holding cell one" with many others. At one point with forty-two others. So a total of forty-three of us and "holding cell one", which was meant for, I would guess, 15 to 20 people. We were unable to social-distance well in there and had intermittent access to phones at that time. We were told multiple times that their systems were down and therefore we were not able to be processed more quickly. And the bail systems were down. So even though many of us, virtually all of us were eligible for bail, our loved ones, the Nebraska Left Coalition and others were unable to post our bail on the outside to vote to let us go. I was detained for roughly twenty-two hours and let go, just after 7:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Carly [00:36:54] My name is Carly and I was a protestor that was arrested at the Farnam Street Bridge. I personally saw the correctional officers diligently neglecting the inmates. This includes, but is not limited to: the refusal of water, bathrooms, soap, and medical attention. I sat with at least 30 plus people in the room at all times with the capacity of 14 while looking into a large vacant room for over half of my 20 hours. Mind you that this crammed room that has a toilet had once overflowed onto the floor where we were kept. I watched five correctional officers stand idly by while one of them was repeatedly pounding someone's head into the ground. I listened to correctional officers verbally and physically harassed the inmates. There is a void of conversation rules, expectations of the inmates. I felt like an animal on the way to the slaughterhouse. Our needs were not even acknowledged.

Lannette [00:37:59] My name's Lannette. I was one of the protestors arrested on July 25th in Omaha, Nebraska. Some things that I experienced that stuck out to me that I feel I need to be brought to people's attention is how many people were shoved in those cells -  the max capacity was posted at 14 and at one point there was 50 women in there. It was difficult to breathe. There is zero air circulation. There is no soap. The toilet was overflowing if you used it or flushed it. And we weren't brought clean drinking water until about probably six in the morning. And when... when I was called up finally at the end to sign my papers and go, the officer having me sign it ripped... I was reading over the papers and she ripped the papers out of my hand and said she didn't have time for me to read them. And I talked back to her and was like, "No, I'm gonna read these. I'm just going to skim it before I, you know, so I know what I'm signing". And she threw me in solitary confinement for about forty-five minutes before they finally let me out. So that was pretty unethical, I feel. Anyway, thanks. Bye.

Jude [00:39:18] My name is Jude. I'm reading for somebody who is held at Douglas County Correctional Facility in Omaha, Nebraska. I was led into the room where they would hold me around maybe 5:00 a.m. Sunday, where they would keep me until one 30 a.m. Monday morning and solitary. I have one other person in there with me named Tony who would keep me sane for the first few hours. Me and him tried to stay as calm as much as we could in the situation we were in by talking to each other and making light of the situation. I saw my partner again, finally, after being booked and cried the last time I'd seen him being when he passed out due to dehydration and heat with past medical problems, saying he couldn't feel anything from the waist up whatsoever and that he had a possible concussion, which he did have. I had no idea when he'd been taken in, only that he was here now. Unfortunately, all I could do was look at him from the inside of my cell, across the room and mouth to him that I was OK. And was worried about him as he was walked away to a small, cramped, populated... "population cell". The first phone call I got, I'd gotten because Tony happened to be on the phone when I was placed in the cell. I called the bail fund number and told them about me and my partner first. After a few hours, Tony was released and I began going practically insane. I saw my friend Lee get assaulted for asking continuously for a phone call and a lawyer. They grabbed her and dragged her around. She screamed at them that they were hurting her once more. They took me to a medical and asked me about being trans. Their wording was disrespectful and hurtful. And asked about if I took meds, too, which I said "no", and then later taken again for reasons I'm not sure of, and asked the same questions. The cops called us the R-slurg and some of the T-slur and made fun of the trans inmates and misgendered us. I saw a trans woman get slammed back into her cell after trying to walk out, even though the officer told us she was getting out. She also had her wig taken from her. I do not remember a lot of my time inside of the solitary cell alone because I began to break down constantly screaming and crying and in pain from my binder, asking if I could take it off or not and if I could get the phone again or some water at least. They would ignore me completely or look and laugh. I was in a constant state of sobbing and having panic attacks and trying to sleep on a cold metal bench next to a toilet. I started to believe I wasn't even sleeping at all or that it was already Monday. I started to hallucinate that I was there for weeks and even and that they were keeping me there because they'd forgotten about me and everyone had already been released. I started to get extreme pains in my chest and couldn't breathe. I had no privacy almost when using the bathroom, as everyone could see through me... see me through the window. They would continuously tell us we were going to be released soon, only to throw arrestees back in their cells for hours. The food they gave us was almost inedible and I could only stomach the carrots. I began dry heaving into a toilet, at one point, some pure dehydration and stomach pain from not eating. I was also going through severe nicotine withdrawals. I was in and out of sleep and having panic attacks and only to be and only being let out the same paperwork be processed. I saw my friend once more later being processed and then assaulted once more to the point where she could not breathe. They laughed and took pictures of her being choked. She told them she couldn't breathe. I can't breathe and they blame her for that. I cried and screamed at them to stop hurting her, to no avail. I saw my partner a couple more times outside my cell and told them I love them through my paniced breathing. I had to sign paperwork saying I was at risk of being a sexual victim for being transgender. An officer then laughed and told me to get comfortable because they weren't taking any bail. I got one more call and the bell phone number told me that they weren't that they were doing what they could, but cash card and even check was not being accepted by the correctional facility. They took another man in as he told them, they were hurting him, an officer grabbed him and slammed him on the side onto into the tile floor, cracking his head open, blood spilling out onto the ground. I almost vomited as they'd done so right in front of my cell and just casually threw a towel onto the blood. A younger black male was also assaulted by several officers, which I was not able to see, and they brought a wheelchair to the pat-down room to wheel him away. Later disrespecting him by letting his butt hang out in front of all the cells. And then as he begged them to help, they wedgied him pulling his pants up. Once I was let out to sign my release papers, I finished and finally saw my partner again in the cell. I waved at him and tried to ask if he was OK. And the officer laughed at me and said, "You fucked that up, didn't you?". And threw me back in solitary for hours. I went to an intense breakdown once more in absolute pain and torment, begging to be released. My bail had been paid and my release papers were signed hours before I was released. Finally, I was released and taken away, shaking, crying. I thought I was hallucinating again at one point. And then I was given my things back, smiled at the camera and left. I was met with my friend who was free and safe, and my friend outside who'd been doing everything she could to get ..could first thing in the morning to get us out. And I cried to wait until my partner was the very last to be released at that time. 

Neil [00:44:34] My name is Neil. On Saturday, when I was arrested, I was thrown into the railing on the Farnam Street Bridge rib's first while my phone was removed from my hands. I was then placed in zip-ties thrown on the sidewalk where the officer need me into my ribs. I was picked up and I was complaining that I did not have my phone to another officer. The other officer did get my phone back, put it in my pocket, and then I was sat down on the street for what was three and a half hours before I was told my charges and then placed in a car to go downtown. Arriving downtown, I saw additional other people who I was with. We were all placed outside, sat in the parking lot for what was maybe an hour and a half before I finally got called to go inside the garage. I was in the garage for about an hour and then finally going into the first step of processing where the zip-ties were finally removed for after maybe five and a half hours, six hours. When I was in the first step of processing, another man came in, who wasn't with us, had a different charge of something, was complaining about he needed to see medical attention. He needed...he had a mental issue. One officer said,"He doesn't get a nurse. He doesn't need a nurse". I thought that was really interesting that an officer can decide who needs medical attention and who doesn't. After finally going in to processing and getting booked, I made my phone call checked in my property. This is roughly three a.m. I checked my property and the woman said the money, my bail is on my books. So the process had been started. This is again, 3:00...3:30 a.m,. And at one point, a young female was acting out, yelling and kicking, screaming. They deemed an emergency and forced 40 plus people into a single holding cell. There was Forty-two males, in one single holding cell. Very minimal ventilation. After that was said and done, we were brought back into the lobby area. Separated. Wait. Computer systems go down. Five pm rolls around, I'm finally released. I feel that was the most dehumanizing experience of my life. I'm unbelievably outraged. I'm unbelievably sad.

All speakers at once [00:47:28] My name is Hally. Hi, my name is July and I'm a Nebraska licensed RN. My name is James. Miss Emma. My name is Gavin, Mergo... My name is Bear...Lee...my name is Riley Wilson...Conner. My name is Carly. My name is Andrew. My name is Neil. My name is Jordan. Hi my name is Paviellee, My name's Lannette. My name's Daniel. My name is Karen...and I was arrested by the Omaha Police Department on July 25th.

Dawaune Lamont Hayes [00:47:52] This has been The Protestors' Diary: Farnam Street Bridge", as they remember the night in their own words with music by Kevin MacLeod and Ben Sollee. Produced by NOISE, Hi Omaha and Figure Podcasts.