My 2000 mugshot for rioting & unlawful assembly

Mary Scully July 24 2000 mugshot for riot and unlawful assembly

This is a very unflattering mugshot taken in 2000 when 90 people were arrested for protesting experimentation on animals. Almost half of them turned out to be undercover agents, some of whom testified against us in court. That explains the hostility I received from others in the holding cell.

I was irate at being fingerprinted for both the local police & FBI data bases & for having my mugshot taken for rioting & unlawful assembly. Had I known the damn thing would show up online I would have smiled for the camera & not scowled.

They released us at 1 am but refused to return our personal belongings so we had no car or house keys, no money, no way to get home, & no way to get in if we walked there. It took three days for police to return our stuff. They also said we had to sign forms promising not to go near the University of Minnesota & other designated areas. Yeah right. I told them to come back with the form when we were under martial law.

The trial lasted a week but the judge rendered a verdict of not guilty on all counts in less than a minute. Nevertheless, this is the event where then-FBI agent Colleen Rowley flagged my criminal record for using a WMD. The smallest WMD is twice my size & weight. It takes considerable resources to get my criminal record cleared.

You can understand the scowl on my face. No big deal now. Injustice has handed out much much worse to millions of others.

Don’t think it serves understanding of the Saudi rift with Qatar to unleash a volley of hatred toward Saudi Arabia. That is never a fruitful way to approach political analysis. If you can’t explain events other than by demonizing it is because you are unable to understand complexities.

That is not to exempt the Saudi regime from criticism since it is a construct of British & US colonialism, not unlike the state of Israel, & functions in that capacity. But do spare us the hating as you go about trying to understand what the hell is going on.

Just unfriended a long-time friend, a political person I admired, for posting a hateful cartoon about Muslims, associating them with stoning women, flogging gays, child suicide bombers, “bloody jihad massacres.” And here I just spent a lovely evening at a mosque with my friends from the book club at an iftar repast & was so graciously received by so many.

I registered a strong objection & soon after the cartoon disappeared. Too late. The damage was done. If your politics are based in hate, if you’re intellectually satisfied with stereotypes, if you’re not deeply disturbed by the rising tide of Islamophobia, then take a hike. I like to surround myself with those who believe in humanity. They’re the ones who change the world.

Have been called a disgruntled old lady & a low achiever which is a fairly apt description but now it appears I may be a bedroom jihadi. Maybe not as dangerous as the ones in Kashmir but coming up close. Now will somebody tremble before my words?