Yesterday's Protest Of "Rape Cop" Acquittals Fails To Tap Rage

Between the steaming concrete and downtown gridlock, several hundred protestors gathered yesterday evening in front of the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse to protest the acquittal of former NYPD officers Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata, who were accused of raping a drunk woman in her East Village apartment in late 2008, and to promote a petition and a list of demands for the NYPD. If anyone looked uncomfortable, it was because of the heat: the protest itself was largely good-natured, if loud, and missing was a palpable sense of anger. Attendees proclaimed to be outraged, but it seemed a proper sort of outrage, a politely civic disapproval out of balance with the gravity of the events that precipitated it.

Reverend Billy Talen, former mayoral candidate and perennial agitator, took the bullhorn and spoke of how our society has been desensitized by "violent signals" that emanate from the people in charge, saying that the "rape of our land, the rape of our resources, the rape of our women," is a shameful mantra in American society. Pointing to a small line of trees in the parking lot, he said "I want to offer a prayer to these trees," before someone shouted "this is about rape!" He then led the crowd in throaty cheers of "End Rape Now!"

Kelley, a smartly-dressed Manhattanite who was with her boyfriend, told us that the verdict was a "serious injustice" that couldn't be ignored. "I've been sexually assaulted by the police before. In Rhode Island, an officer said that giving him a blowjob would make my reckless driving ticket go away. I know how it feels to be abused by the police." Joe, an artist from Brooklyn who had painted "Don't Trust The NYPD" on his torso, said that the verdict confirmed what he already knew: "The NYPD are above the law. That's just not right."

A small but loud brass band kept the crowd focused, playing renditions of different songs with their lyrics changed for the occasion, including Le Tigre's "Deceptacon" with the words "Here's to the man, the man, the man, the man / Here's to the man and his misogynistic bullshit." After a few middle fingers were thrown in the direction of the bemused and bored court employees, the crowd headed down Centre Street continued for many more blocks, including going past One Police Plaza.

Update: The protest organizers provided us with statements that Nancy Schwartzman and Savitri D., both victims of sexual assault, made at the protest. Savitri D., who is married to Rev. Billy, spoke while holding her 18-month-old daughter Lena and referenced her child's future:

Hi, my name is Savitri and this is Lena, and I'm glad to see all of you today. I'm sorry its under such terrible circumstances again, that we have to be gathering this way, again - after fucking decades I can't believe we are still here for this bullshit. And I want to tell you this girl [Lena] is not going to be here in twenty years in this same situation. This has to stop.

I'm a survivor as I'm sure many of you are and I'd like to take a second just to remember all the survivors that we know - remember them and honor them, us... we have a right to be vulnerable. We shouldn't have to be vigilant every minute of every day. We should be safe in our homes and we should be able to drink a few beers, right? I'm going to drink some fucking beers.

We have to keep talking about this. We have to resist the apathy. We can't say "Oh, well what did you expect? It's naive to think it could have turned out any other way." No. Now is the time to be naive, to be innocent.

And Schwartzman, who made a documentary about her rape Where Is Your Line?, made the point about police officers need to know how to deal with victims of sexual assault:

NYPD: You are not protecting us when you enter our houses while we are drunk, and enter our bodies while we are passed out.

I want to know that if I'm so drunk I'm blacking out, and I'm in the presence of a police officer - he will not sing to me, he will not cuddle me, and he will not rape me.
My name is Nancy Schwartzman, I'm a filmmaker, an activist and a survivor of sexual assault. I made a film about consent - called The Line - about my own sexual assault, and my decision to confront my perpetrator with a hidden camera. I have shown this film around the world - at film festivals, on college campuses, and to people in the government and in the military. Sergeants, Lieutenants and Police Officers have come to my screenings. Some of them want to know why I didn't report my rape, why I didn't use the system, why instead, I confronted my perpetrator with a hidden camera, and created The Line Campaign to educate and prevent rape.

If you're wondering why women hesitate to report a rape or a sexual assault to the police, and why a victim wouldn't trust the justice system: look no further than the acquittal of NYPD officers Moreno and Mata.

Instead of focusing on the blood alcohol content of the victim, I'd like the NYPD to focus on this: what are you going to do to prevent sexual assault - from this moment forward?
How exactly do you plan to use Moreno and Mata as a "teachable moment"? How will you hold these two men accountable?

As a refresher, here are some definitions of rape that many people in the NYPD, and apparently our juries don't understand:

If a woman is drunk or incapacitated she can not consent to sex.

If a woman has consented to one form of sex, she is not consenting to all forms.

If a prostitute is raped, it is not theft of services, it is rape.

You must get consent every time for every act, or else it is not consensual.

The "bad-guy" rapist, you know, the one you love to catch on the street, the one you call "a criminal" he's also the guy who preys on drunk and incapacitated women, employs a look out, returns to her apartment 3 times and places a false 911 call to cover his ass. That guy? He's a rapist, too.
NYPD: Here are some ways you can prevent sexual assault:

Don't pretend it doesn't happen

Don't sweep it under the rug

Don't pat yourself on the back and think you are doing enough.

Talk about rape and sexual assault throughout the year, every year. With programs that work. With facilitators. With advocates. With survivors.

Make mandatory violence-prevention and sexual assault awareness trainings part of a police officer's education.

Make sure your officers know what consent is.

What alcohol + consent is.

Make sure your officers HAVE EMPATHY and to the best of their ability know how rape and sexual assault effect victims.

If they do not have the ability to empathize - THEY NEED TO FIND A NEW JOB.

Make sure your officers do not engage in victim-blaming behaviors If you don't know what victim-blaming means, we have a problem.

Host screenings, trainings and workshops with The Line and other programs that work -- we don't fuck around, if you don't get it now, you'll get it by the end of the workshop.
Sadly, after Morena and Mata were acquitted, you can expect women and victims to trust you and the system even less than we did before.

You can fix that. Win our trust back. Get serious about sexual assault and rape, get educated, and get to fucking work.

Update (9/9/11): Gothamist has published a long-form feature about the Rape Cop case, written by one of the jurors. It takes you behind the scenes during their deliberations, and explains how they came to their controversial verdict. Buy it today as a PDF or on Kindle.