During last Tuesday’s massive protests in Seattle, a three months pregnant Jennifer Fox joined the protests and marched to the intersection of 5th Avenue and Pine Street. At that point, police attempted to break up the protests and Fox, unable to escape, became the victim of police brutality. According to her, that brutality caused her to miscarry five days later.
“I was standing in the middle of the crowd when the police started moving in. I was screaming, ‘I am pregnant, I am pregnant. Let me through. I am trying to get out.’” One officer kicked Fox in the stomach, and another hit her in the stomach with a bicycle. “Right before I turned, both cops lifted their pepper spray and sprayed me. My eyes puffed up and my eyes swelled shut.”
Fox was rushed to a nearby hospital and an ultrasound was performed. Doctors “didn’t see anything wrong with the baby at the time. Everything was going okay until yesterday, when I started getting sick, cramps started, and I felt like I was going to pass out.”
These police officers knowingly kicked a pregnant woman in the stomach. Jennifer Fox screamed that she was pregnant and pleaded for the officers to let her through. But they ignored her and treated her like a common criminal. The fact that she was carrying a child didn’t bother them at all. And notice how the right wing has been silent about this tragedy. They couldn’t care less about the baby of an Occupy protester. If Fox had been a Tea Party protester, conservatives would be screaming bloody murder from the roof tops. They claim to be protectors of fetuses but when the fetus of a person they perceive to be the enemy is killed, they see it as divine justice. Both the police and the right wing have no humanity left. It’s all hate and ignorance.
Any loss of life is a very sad thing. What’s worse, though, is trying to include such a tragedy in a political agenda that caused it to begin with. The only one that knew she was pregnant was her. She could have avoided a physical altercation by not being there. There are lots of ways to support a cause without putting your fetus in harm’s way.
The police could not possibly recognize a 3 month pregnancy in that situation. Were they just supposed to take her word for it while she tried to advance in an unauthorized direction? I don’t know if they took the confrontation too far, but if they did, that is all that should be addressed here. Unfortunately, the miscarriage is at least as much the fault of the irresponsible mother as anyone else.
Just an opinion. I am a loving father of a 3-year old treasure and I would never knowingly put him in such a situation likely to turn dangerous.
Wahwahwah. She shouldn’t have been there in the first place, and blaming the police is ridiculous. How about parental responsibility? Just like avoiding shellfish and nuclear waste, it was her responsibility to avoid a situation of potential violence.
Just because she did something that jeopardized her child doesnt mean that the police did the right thing in attacking a pregnant woman.
Will are you seriously a fucking idiot? Laughing at this? You really have issues and should just fuck off you filthy scum.
I don’t think Will is laughing at anything. He is stating an opinion on where the blame should fall. It gets tiring and frustrating watching irresponsible people blame the consequences of their actions on others.
Yes, we do need to stand up for our beliefs, but we also must balance the dangers and possible outcomes of our actions. Support the cause in some other way if you’re pregnant. That also goes for protestors trying to play a pity card…like the UC Davis students trying to call themselves “children”. If you are going to protest something to the point of confrontation and violence, there is a point at which you will not receive pity. The police are being put in a winless situation. They have a job to perform.
A protest has long since stopped being peaceful assembly when people are yelling, screaming, and marching.
The crap the police have been doing, is inexcusable. They are suppose to protect people.
There are some very real questions of this woman’s veracity. Rather than just accepting her word you might want to do some research. There is no proof that she was ever pregnant and her family claims that she is a habitual liar. While this is an appealing story there needs to be more evidence than her statements.
There does currently seem to be some question about the truthfulness of the story:
http://mynorthwest.com/11/582322/Inconsistencies-in-protestors-miscarriage-claim
I am hoping she isn’t making this up, because I believe it could harm the Occupy cause and give conservatives another rallying cry about the “types” of people they say are participating in the protests.