Yumms

I urgently need to share what happened yesterday regarding the events in Mexico. This is a personal testimony.

Yesterday I was en route to the #1DMX rally in my city. One block away from the meeting point, and I must emphasize, I was walking carrying my banner, when I was stopped by a couple of cops who demanded me to hand it over to them.

They started to ask me questions in a demanding way, like where was I going, why was I heading to the protest, why am I attending events like this and the like, over and over again, which is downright harassment since they only sought to provoke me.

I asked to have my banner back and they wouldn’t listen to me, I said that there was no reason to stop me like that, but they wouldn’t hand it, so I told them to keep it for themselves because I was pretty late and tried to leave. Yeah, terrible idea. Mind you, I was already in a hurry and I was nervous as hell.

They followed me on their bikes and said that I was going to be frisked, I neglected my consent because they hadn’t told me the reason to detain me, that I in no way had given a legal reason to become a suspect. He said something to his radio, and demanded to hand over my bag to search through it. I didn’t want to, because I was afraid that they would put drugs in it to frame me and have a reason to arrest me, like they’ve done so many times in the past months (I’ve seen around 4 videos since the last rally. Yes, this happens a lot in our country).

He also asked for my ID, but then a group of people gathered around us filming the events. A man really fought his way in and demanded my release. The cop asked for backup and the man said that the event had been filmed from the beginning and that they were already calling the media. The people started chanting things at them, and they finally let me go.

I understand that they could argue that walking away nervously makes me a suspect, and that they were just taking precautionary measures, but the fact that I was detained for just WALKING, CARRYING A BANNER, remains, as if being in solidarity with the protests made me a criminal.

Which is exactly what they’re trying to do. Criminalize the freedom of speech. They want to silence us, make us fear them.

I know this is nothing compared to the dozens of people that had been arrested, beaten up, or kidnapped by the police, but honestly I’m pretty fucking lucky, and you guys won’t realize how grateful I am to the people that came to my aid, because I’m not sure where I would be right now if it weren’t for them.

Recipe for Crock-Pot enchiladas, vegetarian-style