http://markcrispinmiller.com/2014/10/ray-mcgovern-arrested-for-trying-to-attend-david-petraeus-event-at-92nd-st-y/

October 31, 2014
Ray McGovern arrested for trying to attend David Petraeus event at 92nd St. Y

Former CIA analyst and activist Ray McGovern was arrested as he attempted to attend an event in New York City featuring former CIA director and retired military general, David Petraeus. He was charged with resisting arrest, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct.

At 92nd Street Y, which describes itself as a “world-class cultural and community center,” Petraeus was to appear with John Nagl, who recently wrote a book, Knife Fights about being an army tank commander in the Gulf War of 1991. Neoconservative commentator Max Boot was to join them as well.

Activists from World Can’t Wait, the Granny Peace Brigade, Brooklyn for Peace and a chapter of Veterans for Peace called on people to protest. Some tickets, which cost $45 each, were bought so people could attend the event and potentially participate in a question and answer portion of the event.

World Can’t Wait activist Stephanie Rugoff said a guard stopped McGovern. “Ray, you’re not going in,” the guard said.

McGovern, who is 74 years-old, told the guards something to the effect that the Bill of Rights gave him the right to go into the event. McGovern had a ticket too. But the guards would not let him pass and soon New York police officers surrounded him.

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According to Marini, his arms were twisted tightly behind his back and he was in immense pain while they were dragging him to the police car. He was squeezed into the back of a patrol car and taken to the 67th Street station.

Rugoff heard him screaming. He was shouting about how they were hurting his shoulder. He asked the officers to stop twisting it so they did not aggravate his shoulder and possibly re-injure it.

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The world-class community center has had multiple events featuring Petraeus. It brings in security and the NYPD to effectively protect him from dissent.

After McGovern was arrested, Rugoff explained that people did not think the center would let anyone in. They also wanted to go to the precinct and check on McGovern instead of staying for the event.

“We got to the police station, and they were still dragging Ray around. His watch strap was broken and there was some blood on his wrist,” Rugoff stated.

McGovern was transferred to the 100 Centre Street police station and put in central booking. He is expected to be arraigned in the late morning or early afternoon.

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Update – 12:00 pm EST

McGovern has been released. He appears to have a black eye in the photo of him leaving 100 Centre Street police station. However, on Monday, he fell and hurt his shoulder. That’s from the fall. His injury is why he was screaming when police were aggressively handling him as he was dragged to the police car.

Ex-CIA Officer Ray McGovern describes his brutal arrest by NYPD
Published on Oct 31, 2014

The New York City Police Department arrested former CIA officer Ray McGovern on Thursday night, preventing him from attending a given by former CIA director David Petraeus. Although he had purchased a ticket to the event, officers stopped the outspoken peace activist and proceeded to arrest him before he even entered the building. RT’s Manila Chan speaks to McGovern himself to get his firsthand account of the incident.

LINK ABOVE

McGovern said he showed up at the event with a black-eye and a sore wrist, and had earlier been wearing a sling on his left arm to aid the injury. At the Petraeus event, however, he says police exacerbated those injuries by forcefully handcuffing him and then hauling him off to a local precinct where he was charged with resisting arrest, criminal trespass, and disorderly conduct. He says he then spent the night on a stainless steel cot.

“If you’ve seen the footage, you can see me screaming in pain as they try to pin my left wrist around behind my back,” he told RT. He added that there was “lots of blood on my pants” as he was being arrested.

http://consortiumnews.com/2014/10/31/petraeus-spared-ray-mcgoverns-question/

Petraeus Spared Ray McGovern’s Question
October 31, 2014

Exclusive: New York City police arrested ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern to prevent him from attending a public event where he planned to pose a pointed question to retired Gen. David Petraeus, another sign of how much U.S. neocons love democracy, writes Robert Parry.

By Robert Parry

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, who was arrested by New York City police on Thursday night to prevent him from attending a speech by retired Gen. and ex-CIA Director David Petraeus, told me the day before that he was planning to ask a question during the Q-and-A.

McGovern, who writes regularly for Consortiumnews.com, compared his goal in New York to his famous questioning of then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Atlanta in 2006 when McGovern pressed Rumsfeld on false statements he had made about Iraq’s WMD and ties to al-Qaeda.

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But the 75-year-old McGovern was blocked from entering the event at the 92nd Street Y, was roughly put under arrest, and was held overnight in jail. He described his ordeal in an interview with RT, saying “I was warned as soon as I got to the ticket-taker, ‘Ray, you’re not welcome here.’”


Screenshot of New York City police arresting ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern outside a speech by retired Gen. and ex-CIA Director David Petraeus. (Via RT.com)

McGovern, who was suffering from a shoulder injury, said he was caused sharp pain by being forcefully handcuffed. “If you’ve seen the footage, you can see me screaming in pain as they try to pin my left wrist around behind my back,” McGovern told RT.

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COMMENTS:

Zachary Smith on October 31, 2014 at 11:53 pm said:

In an effort to learn more about this event I went to Google News. First thing I noticed was that I could see no newspapers with the story. NONE. A specific search for the NYT and Washington Post turned up empty. Being even more curious, I found a list of Top 50 conservative web sites. Fox, and the others — no mention whatever in the top five...