Letter from Damien; Eris Parader to be Arraigned

Dear Friends; The following is a letter from Damien, one of the Eris Paraders to be arraigned as a criminal, having been tased multiple times & finally arrested, for taking part in the Eris Parade Debacle of 2011. While there was certainly bad behavior on the part of some Eris Paraders, it is my belief that Damien is being singled out to face a ONE YEAR MINIMUM PRISON TERM, largely because he has spoken out about being tased by the NOPD, for no real reason, even while in restraints. For whatever reason, this particular yoke has landed on his shoulders, at least in part. The fact that he faces such severe penalties and the NOPD officers involved have not even been cited, as yet, is a travesty that needs to be dragged in to the light and looked at hard. Thanks to Damien for allowing me to share this with those I beleive will support these efforts, and by doing so, support the efforts of a free creative society, here in New Orleans, & beyond. I sincerely hope that his arraignment is short, and heads swiftly in the direction of Real Justice, where he may receive a small fine, and the officers so bent on creating more violence, & directed malfeasance, collect their own due rewards. Please take a moment to read the following letter, posted here unedited & in it's entirety; " Hey folks so I am to be ARRAIGNED on Thursday, June 16... at 9 am in Section J. I am facing some charges that (were I to go to trial and be found guilty) carry minimum prison time beginning at a year and ranging well upwards. Like most things that end up shaping or controlling the course of one's life, the charges against me are, on the face of themselves ridiculous. But like most ridiculous things, they are also quite serious. These new additional and unexpectedly stiff felony charges levied against me amount to an allegation that, while parading in Eris, I forcefully interfered with the NOPD's brutalization of a fellow parader. These charges are false; why I have been singled out for such extraordinary legalism is still unclear. It may be that because I was so thoroughly Tazed-- for indeed I was Tazed at great length, multiple times, including while restrained-- the NOPD are concerned with justifying the taxpayer voltage expended on my person. After all, we are in an energy crisis. But now is not time for idle speculation: now begins the horizonlessly dull aftermath inside the gloomy Factory of the Law. Down along the grey corridors trod & tenanted by the ministers and under-ministers of the Law lies the great high-ceilinged laboratory of the Law, the courtroom, lair of the Law itself, the courtroom wherein the gnashing mechanical teeth of the Law will process me into whatever shape of kibble the Masters of the Law choose. Come, won't you? Come watch the Masters bicker over the settings and levers of the Law that is processing me. The piper-- or at least the lawyers-- must be paid.* You would so lighten the burden that lies upon my heart if you showed up with every other person you could drag from bed on Thursday, June 16th, at the courthouse, at Tulane & Broad, in a prompt manner-- perhaps 8:30 am. Come sit in the gallery for the Arraignment, brief overture to this unamusing farce. Whatever the outcome, witnessing the performance of one of these burlesques is always instructive. - SEE the magical Judge in his magic robe. - FEEL the other-century solemnity of the heavy-curtained courtroom. - HEAR the inane side-conversations of the DAs and lawyers on whose arbitrary actions & words my freedom depends. - REFLECT on these institutions & systems given so much power over our individual fates. - WONDER whether my whiteness & glibness will serve to carry me through this latest little tangle as they have carried me through so much in my life... all these experiences-- this storied & absurd existential theater of "law"-- playing out before your very eyes... free admission! and friends, when the (again probably very brief) ceremony of my arraignment is over, how bright the sunshine will seem to you! How moist the outdoors air! Come into the dungeons of the LAW with me, one morning. Flatten the sheaves of your wet hair, straighten the unfamiliar cotton collar: this is the closest most of us ever get to church. <3 <3 <3 *although my own lawyers are barely paid at all, a circumstance you can remedy via donation at: http://eris12.org" Thanks for reading this. I hope to see some of you there. LD -- Lord David Skull Club New Orleans http://skull-club.com http://lorddavidtruth.blogspot.com