
Sunday, Aug 26–Over a hundred students and activists from Massachusetts and Rhode Island rallied against police brutality in North Providence, RI. The rally was prompted by an incident that occurred on August 11, 2007 where activists claim police crossed the line into brutality when they broke up a peaceful labor march by injuring and arresting a 22-year-old student activist. During the August 11 labor march Alex Svoboda, a Rhode Island student, had her leg broken by the police and is still in recovery. Since her arrest she has undergone three separate surgeries and is awaiting yet another. As a result of the violent arrest, friends of Alex, fellow students, and labor organizers held a rally against police brutality only a few blocks from where the incident originally occurred. The organizers claim the charges against her are unwarranted and are calling on the mayor and the police department to to drop all charges against Svoboda. Activists have also demanded a formal apology from the city and compensation for her medical expenses. Among the group of over a hundred at the rally were students from various universities and colleges in Worcester, including WPI, Clark, UMass Medical School, and Assumption College.

Svoboda had her leg broken and was arrested while participating in the peaceful march intended to pressure a local restaurant to withdraw its investments in Dragonland Trading Inc. Dragonland is a New York-based company that has been exposed to be operating a factory under sweatshop conditions. The owner of the local restaurant has since announced that the restaurant has discontinued business with Dragonland.
According to first hand reports, during the August 11 march, police officers made an announcement that the protesters must move from the street to the sidewalk. As the marchers were moving to the sidewalk, three police officers tackled Svoboda to the ground, breaking her leg. When fellow protesters tried to call attention to her injury, they were shouted down by the police officers. Officers then used a chemical spray on one woman who was attempting to tell the police about Svoboda’s injuries. After her arrest, Svoboda was immediately taken to the hospital. The marchers remained peaceful and continued on the planned route. No additional arrests were made.

Svoboda was initially charged with three felony assault charges (on officers), one misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace, and one charge of resisting arrest. When speaking about the incident, Alex’s father, Scott Svoboda, said “The charges are bogus and my wife, Jan Enstrom and I have retained excellent legal council for Alex. Our main goal is a healthy recovery and as for the court. We will not settle for anything less than all charges being dropped or acquittal.” He went on to say, “The main point is that Alexandra is a peaceful and sensitive young lady who would never ‘attack’ any officer and eyewitness and photos back this up… We have and have had federal, state and county law officers in our family and Alex would never attack an officer. Period.”
The August 22 rally was organized by the Providence Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the two organizations who helped organize the original labor march. The carpool from Worcester was organized by the Consortium of United Students, a Worcester-based cross-campus progressive activist group.
The rally featured a short speech from students from Brown University, some words of encouragement from two former employees of Dragonland Trading Inc., and a representative from Svoboda’s family read a letter of support from Alex’s father. The rally originally included a plan for a march to city hall. Rally organizers changed the plan after receiving thinly veiled threats of further violence from the mayor and the chief of police. Despite the organizer’s clear intentions to remain peaceful, police were out in full force at the rally. No arrests were made at the rally. The SDS and IWW say they will continue to pressure the mayor and police department to drop all charges against Alex Svoboda.