A Photo To Define A Movement
Portland protester Elizabeth Nichols is identified as the woman who was pepper-sprayed in the face at Pioneer Courthouse Square.
The photo was taken from the southeast corner of the square, looking toward the intersection of 6th and Yamhill after a day of marching through downtown Portland, Ore., by Occupy Portland participants. People gathered on the east side of the Steel bridge earlier in the morning to demonstrate in support of the Occupy movement, on the day known as N17. Several people were arrested and the march continued over the lower span of the bridge into downtown, where a rally was planned. Later in the day people were arrested in a Wells Fargo branch downtown. Photo by Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian
Nichols describes the incident:
Nichols said a policewoman jabbed her in the ribs with a baton and pressed it against her throat. That made her angry.
She yelled at the officer, saying she was being mistreated. That’s when another officer shot her with pepper spray. A photo by The Oregonian’s Randy L. Rasmussen, which flashed across social media websites, shows Nichols was sprayed from a few feet away.
“It felt like my face, ears and hands were on fire,” she said.
She dropped to the ground, and police yanked her into their ranks.
“She was dragged away by her hair and disappeared into the black of their uniforms,” [protester Laura] Seeton said.
An officer later doused her burning face with water and she was booked into Multnomah County jail, where officers showed her Rasmussen’s photo.
Next time you get pepper sprayed, keep your mouth shut, she said they told her.
Her hands still burned after they released her about 2 a.m.
Copyright 2011 Liberaland
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