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The Story of When I Spilled My Drink, Got Kidnapped & Tortured
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[Editor's Note: In this weekend's Weekend Vigilante we recounted how we went to a local Las Vegas casino with a few of our friends and associates and how two of them ended up in a cage. We recounted that we didn't know the full story about what happened, as they were still in jail at the time, but now Justin O'Connell, who was one of them, and also a regular TDV Correspondent, has recounted what occurred. The following is by TDV Correspondent Justin O'Connell and originally appeared on The Silver Vigilante, July 17, 2012. ]
When I spilled half of my drink at a Las Vegas nightclub, I was asked to leave. When I asked for my money back, the real crime commenced, as I was kidnapped by thugs and thrown in a cage.
The laws on the books in the United States detail a vast and complex web on bureaucratese which, in the end, leads to nothing more than ensuring innocent people end up in jail. And, when these individuals end up in jail, they are forced – with weapons – to endure psychological torture and inhumane conditions until they get released. Among the laws which can get a peaceful individual kidnapped and tortured in Las Vegas are the following:
• Sec. 8.12.015. Sitting or lying down on public sidewalks in the downtown redevelopment district prohibited.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no person shall sit or lie down upon a public sidewalk, or upon a blanket, chair, stool, or any other object placed upon a public sidewalk in the downtown redevelopment district, as it is defined in section 18.07.040 of the Reno Municipal Code.
(Ord. No. 4482, � 1, 2-28-95)
• Buying drinks for more than three people within 24 hours is forbidden.
• Simple Christian good will is illegal in Las Vegas, as it also illegal to feed the homeless in public. You can feed your friends and families, but certainly not those down-and-out.
• It is also illegal in Las Vegas to pawn your dentures, if, let’s say, they if they have gold, platinum or silver fillings.
• Feeding the pigeons has been considered to be made against the law in Las Vegas
• Defacing a hamburger, by leaving its contents anywhere in public, is a punishable offense.
• Jaywalking could land you in prison for thirty days.
Laws like these result in the incarceration of good people, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The United States prison complex must be the second busiest enterprise in the United States after the internet, where millions of people surf 24/7.
During a recent stay in a Las Vegas jail – for requesting my $30 entry fee after being kicked out a club for no reason, though I do know spilling half my drink (as if that was not enough) was the catalyst – I heard stories of people incarcerated for a litany of once-innocent actions, like being drunk on the Las Vegas strip and feeding the pigeons.
Many people protest laws not against their blatant immortality and infringement of human rights, but because they are “unenforceable.” I understand that getting caught red-handed is the actual illegal part in anything. Laws are broken all-the-time, and the State doesn’t catch everyone. But, all laws are enforceable at anytime, and will be if a police officer makes the subjective decision to find a reason to throw an individual in jail. Any reason will do, and with thousands if not millions of laws on the book, a reason can be found.
And, once that innocent person – it could be you next time – finds him or herself in jail, here is what happens.
AN INSIDE LOOK AT A LAS VEGAS JAIL FROM ANOTHER INCARCERATED VIGILANTE
If you’re lucky, soon after your arrest, you will find yourself in the check-in lounge at your local jail. If you’re not so lucky, you will spend an undetermined amount of time in handcuffs. Don’t expect to be read your Miranda Rights, as they are a thing of the past. If you don’t get your own private police car, you will be stuffed into a van with others. These could be individuals who, unlike you, have committed violent acts against others. In jail, ethical concern is not determined on an individual basis. It is assumed that, if you are in jail, then you are a bad individual. You will be treated as if you had done violence against another.
Cuffed along the way, you will then be shooed around, stripped of excess clothing, and all of your personal belongings will be taken from you. Plastic gloves will be worn while you are searched as if you are contaminated. You will undergo a medical physical, and if you do not you will be considered a suicide threat.
You will then be removed from your cuffs and seated. Your temporary custody record will be in your hands by now, and you will, most likely for the first time, know the legal justification for your being in jail. Very few other questions will be answered. How long will you be there for? You won’t know, but the general consensus is that you will be there for up to 24 hours. As the time spent in jail becomes more dismal, it will seem like you could stay there for days.
After your cuffs are removed you get the chance to make a phone call. But, first, you must be ID’d by the jail’s phone system so that you can be properly wiretapped. There’s no privacy in jail. You will be instructed to follow a number of commands. You will say your name, and then be required to repeat phrases like, “What options do I have?”, “How long will it take?”, and “What’s next?” just so that you are reminded of your total submission.
After that is done, you are then told to sit-down and raise your hand so as to use the phone. You will make a phone call, and if you are lucky the person on the other line will answer and pay money for the phone call. If they do not, you could be sitting in jail for many hours until you speak with anyone on the outside. During that interval, you might not know much about your prospects.
You will sit-down in the booking lounge, where simple research about you that the guards must perform will take hours on end. You’ll have your fingerprints taken and you will be asked a series of questions about your mental state, employment, age, etc. If you ask a question, it is as if you are asking Officer Whomever to part the continents. Even if they do answer you, they will not know much, as specialization within the jail is part of the control grid and abuse of you. You won’t see anyone with any real power.
After your fingerprints are taken and you are asked some questions, with many hours sprinkled in between, you will be stood-up and walked out of the lounge. This is not before you will see individuals who “know somebody” get out quick-and-easy. If this is your first time in jail, you think that this could be it. Until you see the hall down which you are to be walked. It dawns on you that, instead of getting out, you will now sit in a holding cage. You will sit there for hours. Grown men will shit next to you and piss next to you, and even cry next to you as they talk to their families on the phone. If you don't know the condition of the nation’s food supply you will fast. You won’t even drink the water as there’s no way the fountainhead is clean. It’s probably coated with feces and piss from the toilet that is no more than three feet away from it.
There might be a television on in the room. And it will be on the whole day and night. The cathode rays and high frequencies will pierce your brain. You will lie on the floor to catch half-naps of fifteen minute intervals. Why you’re there in the first place will begin to fade as your brain does not have the rest it needs to consolidate memories. Your memory of everything will be fuzzy.
Then, your name will come-up again in the litany of bureaucratic processes and you will be moved. Your luck, or some other hidden process, will lead you to either a next room or an exit. If you are brought to another holding cage, it will be worse than the first two cages in which you were held. This is a part of the hazing which takes place within the jail. No questions will be answered. Remember, you are a criminal.
Once you are chosen to exit the prison, it only gets worse until, for the last twenty minutes of your stay, it gets better. You will be brought to the ultimate hazing room – maybe it will be called the “Male Kick-Out Room” – where there are none of the amenities of the previous cages. It is basically the dirtiest place you have been. There are no windows. There is no phone. You know this must be the last cage because of how inhumane it is.
Then you will get booked out of jail and given your court date. This is the part of the process that, evidently, has held you up for so long. But, it is not like you need your court date immediately because, since the courts have such a long backlog, you likely will not return for many months to see a judge.
SIDING WITH THE STATE
Also, expect for many of your friends, acquaintances, family members and colleagues to side with the State. Despite how enlightened they may seem, they still cannot fathom injustice taking place without a catalyst. There must be some reason, and no matter how minute or petty the reason for your incarceration is, they will turn on you.
How to stay out of jail? Simply submit. Do not mention that you know your rights. Knowing your rights is a punishable offense in-and-of itself in the New America. Jails are the new projects, and they are spreading the globe. Forget the globalization of poverty , for the reality is the globalization of incarceration. If you want to be immoral and profit from the torture of your fellow human beings, feel free to jump on board the bull market of Corrections Corp of America. Here is the stock chart for seven years:

[Editor's Note: Justin didn't mention it, but the thing they charged him with was "trespassing"... inside a Las Vegas Hotel! And, to make matters worse, he was suspended from his job for not showing up to work on the day he was incarcerated. And, then in a few months, he'll have to travel at his own expense back to Las Vegas to face the charges or else he'll be a wanted fugitive. This just goes to show how the USSA Police State can destroy lives. All of this occurred because he spilled his drink. Justin is already looking at coming down to Acapulco... a much freer place and where nothing like what he went through exists.]
Justin O’Connell is a frequent contributor to The Dollar Vigilante, who studied History and German Language at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, where, in his spare time, he researched current events and their relationship to history. In his studies he has found that societies have been managed by philosophically-kindred ruling classes seeking persistently a singular, total order across the planet. Justin does not believe in government as a medium for human relationships, preferring instead the race of human ideas stemming from a diverse, vibrant culture. Currently, he is a proponent of physical silver as a means of wealth preservation and disobedience to the financial system, and lives in southern California. He writes at the Dollar Vigilante-inspired site, Silver Vigilante.













Comments (16)
Justin,Thank you for posting some additional details about the incident. That being the real story, I agree, you should not have to deal with the police, nor thrown out of a club, much less put in jail.There is one part I don't understand though, and I am saying this right away so, please, bear with my being a bit old. You stepped up on a knee-high ledge, to get a better view. I think this is irrelevant, as you didn't climb up a column or swang from lustres, so it is irrelevant just as wether you were leaning on a wall or not.Then you spilled your drink. This to, is no crime, unless you're a robot with perfect coordination at all times.Then you say you become (or were) disgruntled, and definitely demanded your money back.On what grounds were you feeling disgruntled? And on what grounds did you feel that the club owes you money back? By your own words you purchased it and spilled it yourself, or am I still not following (happens frequently)?This is the part I still don't understand. I don't want to sound suggestive, but I truthfully don't understand.Would you elaborate on these two points, if you haven't lost all hope and interest yet.Thank you!
The intro makes for great entertainment but is too vague by half. Were you drunk? Not saying that you were it just seems we're being told the all too ugly truth from the back end of the tale while the lead-in has gone MIA.
Hello everyone! Thanks for the feedback.to answer some of the questions that are coming through:No, I did not spill the drink on anyone, unless I spilled it on one of the security guards after they grabbed me. But, the original incident did not entail spillage on anyone else. I had been drinking but that's normal and I can handle myself just fine. There was a ledge about knee high at the nightclub I jumped up on so as to see the dance floor, etc. That's when part of the drink spilled.As a disgruntled customer, I definitely demanded my money back. Something I won't ever do again, btw. I learned my lesson there to STFU. But, there still is very little reason to have gotten thrown in a cage. That I did speaks more to our culture of cages than it does to my deserving such actions. That's the point of this essay.We had been in the club ten minutes. Ten minutes = $30 entry fee and $15 makers mark = $45? Then the spill and the kick out and arrest.We obviously were not too obnoxious or I imagine we would have been charged with disorderly conduct. And, I will not be going class-action on this one. I don't want to end up like some of those people in that movie "Casino." Fingerless, dead, etc.
Justin, my friend and I are in our late 20s, live in Phoenix (founders of the Freedom's Phoenix offshoot Don't Tread on Meme) and are working on our TDV foreign residency. He was recently arrested in Scottsdale, AZ, for public urination. He also almost lost his job and he worries it will ruin his expat background check. We're really hitting the gas pedal on this, as you are too. Would you ever like to meet up in SoCal or Phoenix? If your favorite topic is silver, check out our barter project: Here's a link to me (in the green shirt) on an Alternative Currencies Panel at Porcfest 2012. If you want to get in touch, my email is: ross (at) donttreadonmeme.com
I think Mava is on the right track. I'm not buying the arrsted for no reason/thrown in a cage/we're going to counter with a class action lawsuit scenario. Makes a good story. But that's all it is.Police officers are no different than the TSA or the folks in the DMV or any other government agency. They're lazy, and they aren't interested in booking you (and everyone else) into jail.Throw a drink on another customer (assault), try to get your cover charge back after you've been in the night club 2 hours (theft of services), being obnoxious (disorderly conduct), yes, these are the kind of things whereby the private business will call the police to have you removed. If the local police can't take you back to their station and a holding cell, you will be off to the county jail. In this case Clark County. Prohibatively intoxicated? You will be put on a medical watch. Say stupid things? Suicide watch. Are there rough cut individuals you will be housed with? That's how it works.C'mon, people. As you are intrigued by concepts promoted by Dollar Vigilante or Casey's Research, it doesn't give you license to do stupid things. Let's be smarter than that.
Fred C Dobbs,If everyone did just that, we would be in FAR better shape. We would be simply laughing at "the FEDs running around with their stupid ideas", while having our drink in a bar with our neighbors. If only everyone did that...This still would be America, the beacon of freedom in the sea of darkness.I will do exactly the same. I will also absolutely ignore all and every law that goes beyond original intent of the government by Jefferson, and tries to use the opinion of majority to decide on anyone's private property. I.e., I don't care who think what about that man's property, you ain't taking it and you don't get to decide what should be done with it!
I will not follow US laws any longer when I am on jury duty. I will not convict anyone for anything having to do with breaking homeland security laws, tax laws, gun laws, drug laws, presidential executive orders and others. Nullifying unjust laws of a criminal government is our duty.
Ouch. But, let me play the devil's advocate here.All I know, is that you spilled your drink.- Did you spill it on someone else?- Were you too drunk?- Were you just unlucky to trip on something and fell, with the drink?- Were you arguing with someone angrily to the point that you couldn't control the drink glass?- Were you loudly demanding your money back and making a scene?Sorry for asking, but there was not enough information to make a conclusion of what had happened.A casino is business, a private one. If you have too much freedom there, then someone else just walks by.So, an owner will have the rules set. This is how it supposed to be. Yes, it could have been just a fascist corporate state implementation of care, but we don't know that yet.For instance, if you were my guest, along with any others, and you got in argument with someone, and you went so far as to have your drink going out of your control, and then you have demanded another one from me, loudly, without respect, I can see how other guests will start picking up their hats. So, I'd ask you to leave. If you don't, then I have to help you to leave. Is this what had happened?I presume everything was the other way around because anarchists are nice people, but I would still be a fool to make a judgment without additional information.
My sympathies Justin. I agree with George's comment above, and please don't make the mistake of calling statutes and regulations laws, they're not. Here in Massachusetts, four members of a grand jury were arrested for trespassing as well...While they were in a public courthouse during normal business hours. It seems that charge works as well as any. Nineteen months later, after one of them succumbed to the seeming endless monthly court dates and paid an attorney (who don't really represent you anyway) and the fine, the remaining three continue to appear month after month with no progress. The next date is scheduled for September 2012.We understand that exercising your rights in this country is risky business. Be prepared to take back your rights in court (the same way they were taken from us), which could take a couple of years or pay the fine, go home and live to fight another day.In the meantime, you might want to do a little research on the elements of jurisdiction.Thanks for posting this story and best of luck.
Boycott Las Vegas. They are dependent on tourists and if they are going to teat the tourists this way then boycott them. I am also advocating boycotting U.S. airlines whenever possible.
Amazing! Let's not kid ourselves, because this happens to people frequently, for petty reasons.Just curious: If Justin is an advocate of "disobedience to the financial system," what the heck was he doing in a Las Vegas casino? I find that both ironic and funny....
The blame-the-victim attitude of most folks sickens me. I don't even wanna think about how many typical Americans would blame Justin for his ordeal.
I always found many service-providers in LV to be pricks too...many acted as if you were being granted some great privilege to go there and over-pay for crappy food, drinks, and entertainment--not to mention the terrible weather and ugly scenery. Security and police always seemed eager for trouble too. All of this in a city which portrays itself as a Mecca of adult entertainment...what bullshit. Can't stand the place or understand why regular Joe's would bother visiting.
wow . the drink and kidnapped . this is quit interesting antivitiligo.com
Wow, Justin, just reading your words brought back mental pictures of my going through exactly the same thing on more than one occasion. What can I say; I had an adventurous youth. When you go through something like that, the phrase, "It sucks to be you" comes to mind. Washing the filth off of the outside of you is the easy part. It's the filth they smear into your insides that's the most insidious. I would counsel reverting to Natural Law at this time. When you return for your court date, bring an attorney equipped with a lawsuit naming the establishment that caused your injury. You were with friends(?) when this happened to you? You'll have their depositions, of course. A bit of research will turn up a herd of other victims; your attorney will obtain their depositions (and the beginnings of a class-action suit). You should probably think of this as "Justice" instead of revenge (as in "Revenge is a soup best supped cold"), and probably refrain from jumping up and down screaming, "Where's my Wergeld?" I wouldn't have at your age, but I get the feeling you're classier than that. After paying off your shyster, you could book your move down to Jeff's neighborhood, and let the cleansing complete itself. Iced Corona, sun, surf. Well, that's one scenario. Anyway, you've had my sympathy and encouragement. I've missed your SV emails. I'm sure everybody's glad you're back!!
Interesting experience. What struck me as I was reading this is that it's not all that different from a visit to an emergency room here in Canada. They've perfected these tactics across many institutions. Schools also come to mind. Also, you were 'lucky' you were only there for such a 'short' time. A family member (in Canada) was arrested several years ago for living in a different apartment but in the same house as someone who was making oil out of some poor quality marijuana - a crime called 'manufacturing drugs', that's right up there with cooking meth in terms of punishment. He was 6 days in jail before they let him make a phone call. No one knew where he was. He lost his job promotion, had to move in with a family member who would guarantee him so he lost his residence as well, then 6 months later when his court date came up it was dismissed almost immediately for lack of any basis for arrest.
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