Activists met May 18 at the 6th District Courthouse in Providence to protest a Rhode Island rule that allows judges to decide whether people who allegedly violate probation can receive bail.
At the start, attendees were chanting the name Carol Pona, a woman who died after being held for three months after allegedly violating her probation. The event started as a vigil for Pona, and a rally to support efforts to overhaul the measure that saw her locked up.
The mood was a little like a street fair on the courthouse steps. There was a large poster with an image of Pona, and flowers laid for her. There were used clothing stands, free food, and even a barber giving out free haircuts.
Pona’s friends and family were present at the rally and spoke in support of the bill, followed by Senator Megan Kallman, who co-wrote the bill with Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE), and Representative Jose Batista, who sponsored the House version of the bill.
But the event shifted gears when an activist announced that some people were blocking the road. Protestors marched around the corner chanting, arriving at a prisoner transport bus at the back of the courthouse.
Twelve people dressed in white stood, sat, or laid down in pairs, and blocked the roads from the courthouse with their bodies. Some had their arms held together with PVC piping to make their bodies too large to fit in a police car, and to prevent officers from handcuffing them, according to an organizer with DARE.
Organizer Juan Turbidez said the group, of which he was not a part, had been planning the action in secret for about three weeks– keeping details private from others involved in DARE. He said the goal was to “keep it under wraps, because people could leak stuff.”
About 24 local and state police officers quickly arrived at the scene and began telling demonstrators their actions were illegal.
One of those protestors was Nithin Paul, a family medicine doctor. He said he volunteered with the group blocking the bus because he has seen what jail does to his patients.
“Every time a patient comes out of ACI, it’s really hard to get them back on their feet. Usually if they’re diabetic, their blood sugar is out of control. Oftentimes they might relapse into drug use. They’re not getting the meds they need, their stressors are rapidly exacerbating their health conditions, and by the time they’re out they’re worse off,” he said. “It’s just this perpetual cycle that’s impossible for people to break out of.”
Paul added he had never been arrested before, but that seeing the support from the more than 100 people gathered made him emotional.
Eventually, activists said they believed the newly incarcerated people were led from the courthouse another way, and many of the activists and police officers dispersed for the night. By that time, no arrests had been made. In the morning, there will be another group of incarcerated people headed for the courthouse. About 15-20 of the activists initially planned to stay overnight to block that bus, but in the end, said they decided to go home.
Note: This story has been updated to reflect that the activists who had planned to stay overnight instead went home.
Metro reporter Olivia Ebertz can be reached at olivia@thepublicsradio.org. Follow her on Twitter @OliviaEbertz
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