An August protest against the Jacky's Galaxie restaurant chain has proven to be a bittersweet victory for the Providence chapter of Industrial Workers of the World. Though the IWW protestors, who were joined by members of Brown Students for a Democratic Society, had their demands met, IWW member and Brown Student Radio host Alex Svoboda suffered serious injury in circumstances that protestors allege constitute police brutality.
A Community College of Rhode Island student and host of the BSR shows "Bike Talk" and "Sound Bytes Your Ears," Svoboda was marching down Mineral Spring Avenue toward one of the five Jacky's Galaxie restaurants in North Providence on August 11 with roughly 40 other protestors when complications arose, said IWW organizer Mark Bray.
Protestors planned to march from Brooks pharmacy on Mineral Spring Avenue to Jackie's Galaxy, about 10 minutes down the street, Bray said. He said police told protestors to move from the street onto the sidewalk, but the protestors did not comply until a police car blocked their route, making further street travel impossible.
Most of the protestors had reached the sidewalk, and Bray was nearly there when he said he saw officers approach Svoboda, who was holding drumsticks and playing an overturned bucket around her neck. Bray says an officer then grabbed Svoboda's upper arm and pushed her backward, at which point "she recoiled with a drumstick because it's rather scary."
Svoboda tripped backwards over the curb and fell, Bray said, and Francesca Contreras '10, a Brown SDS member and protest attendee, said she noticed shattered glass in the area where Svoboda fell. After she got up, Svoboda was tripped by a police officer, Bray said. "Her leg was bent backward in the opposite direction as she was knocked to the ground, then cuffed," he said. The police called paramedics immediately, who arrived within some 25 minutes, explained Contreras.
After paramedics arrived and transported Svoboda to the hospital, the protestors continued onward to Jacky's Galaxie, Contreras said.
North Providence Deputy Chief Paul Marino declined to comment on the incident. "All I can state at this time is that we're still investigating the matter," he said. "We are still conducting our investigation and we will be turning it over to the Attorney General's office for review."
Charges were filed against Svoboda, including "three counts of assaulting a police officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest," Bray said.
Svoboda has since undergone four surgeries and has returned from the hospital, Bray said. Her leg is in a brace, and she will need to undergo physical therapy, he added.
In an Aug. 16 Providence Journal article, Officer Mark Mastin gave his account of the incident: "(Svoboda) pushed Patrolman (Jeffrey) Antonelli with both hands holding the drumsticks and said '(expletive) don't put your hands on me.' " Mastin told the Journal he and Antonelli tried to grab Svoboda's arms, but were prevented from doing so initially by the crowd.
"Patrolman (William) Shurick and I grabbed a hold of the suspect and advised her that she was being placed under arrest. She pulled her hands away and started swinging the drumsticks screaming ... As I tried to grab her arms she swung the drumsticks hitting our arms. In fear of our safety, we immediately grabbed her arms again and tried to take her into custody," he said.
Svoboda declined The Herald's request for comment on the incident. Her legal counsel, Robert Mann, also refused to comment, saying, "It's a pending case."
The protest was intended to pressure the owner of Jacky's Galaxie restaurants, Kin "Jacky" Ko, to discontinue purchasing supplies from a New York-based supplier, Dragonland, that was violating several New York labor laws, Bray said. These violations included paying workers $4.75 an hour, neglecting to pay overtime to workers and firing workers for joining a union, he said.
Ko said after the Aug. 11 protest and other demonstrations that he had already stopped doing business with Dragonland and later testified to a superior court that he had done so.
IWW is a national labor organization, self-described as a union, that seeks "workplace democracy," Bray said. Founded in 1905, the IWW has experienced a recent resurgence in some areas.
A handful of Brown SDS members joined IWW for the Aug. 11 protest, Contreras said, adding that they marched under the umbrella group Providence SDS, which is comprised of SDS members from various Providence schools.
A rally was held at North Providence High School on Aug. 26 to "bring awareness to the greater Providence area of the incident of police brutality, to demand that the charges against Alex and another member be dropped and that officers responsible be brought to justice," Bray said.
Contreras was among those who spoke at the rally, which drew an estimated 300 people and received local news coverage.
Yet despite Svoboda's injury, Bray said he views the Aug. 11 protest as an achievement. "At least we did accomplish our goal of taking one of Dragonland's largest customers," he said. Since the protest, Bray said, "the (IWW) has gotten a lot more publicity around Rhode Island."
Contreras said she hopes the incident draws more attention to oppressed workers and instances of police brutality. "We can't forget that just because we go to Brown this stuff isn't happening just down the Hill from us."
