the Isla Vista Riots conclusion
Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 6:02 pm
Stories of police atrocities spread around town. If you were on the toilet when they barged into your home, it was a misdemeanor; if you were eating dinner, it was a felony. There were reports of citizens taken out to Sands Beach where there heads were forced into the dunes. All the time we had troops marching by, helicopters and the dumptrucks. A student named Kevin Moran was killed on the steps of the burned out bank by an "accidental" stray police bullet. We had a wake for him at the beach. Eventually a peaceful protest-against-the-curfew sit-in was held at Perfect Park and attended by 1500 people many of them professors and their wives. The police attacked and 390 people were arrested. Ryland's Grandmother, Eleanore Aldrich (my Mom), was the legal secretary for the lawyer, John Sink, who represented the arrestees. The charges were dismissed the next day. That day I saw 200 black & whites parked in Perfect Park on the grass: an appalling sight. After martial law was repealed, apathy set in. I moved to England and for a year whenever I told anyone about the IV riots, I shook.