[Deep breath] [Flat, serious] [Only spoken word] I was standing on a public sidewalk in Waikiki, waiting for my dance partner to make a quick run to the store. A group of five or six tough-looking men came up to me and told me to move. I had lived in Honolulu for over 14 years but, due to my light skin and hair, got a lot of harassment. I said, "No thanks, I am waiting for my date." They said they were bodyguards for a famous musician who wanted the sidewalk to himself... He was loping along, smoking a giant joint in public. I replied, "That's interesting, who IS he? I blog about local arts and culture." They again started pushing me and telling me to move. I said, "This is a public sidewalk and I am not going anywhere." Next thing I knew, four or five cop cars pulled up around me. As it turned out, the "bodyguards" were moonlighting policemen. I tried crossing the street, but two of the roughest men surrounded me. I put up my arm to protect my personal space and one cop grabbed my hair and smashed my face in the pavement, laughing and calling me a "haole bitch." My face was bleeding and they knocked out one of my teeth. Then, continuing to laugh and insult me because of my race and sex, they handcuffed me with my arms pulled tightly behind me, jabbed at me, threw me in the back seat of a cop car, and maced my face while I was helpless. I began having a severe allergic reaction and trouble breathing. Someone called an ambulance, but the EMT only wiped my bleeding face. Then, without being charged with a crime or read my rights, they brought me to a police station holding cell, and made me walk around in front of all the male officers in my underwear. The next morning I looked like a car accident victim. I was finally released to go home with no explanation, no apologies, and no understanding of how people sworn to uphold the peace could assault me for standing waiting for my dance partner on a public sidewalk.
