Late on the evening of Tuesday, December 6th, Emory graduate student Joe Diaz was arrested in the entry area of the library he’d been studying in. The following is an excerpt from his blog, which you can surf to here if you’d like to read his full story.
These two paragraphs call to mind the question of what happens to a person in the “space” of conflict, specifically re the cop himself, whom Joe describes as thinking in a “military mindset,” a mindset that works to explain his actions. We begin with the actions – even speech – and work our way back in our search for an explanation, utilizing other signs (the cop’s clothing, stance, etc), and our experience, in order to explain and understand events.
“The first thing I told the officers was, “Hi, I’m an Emory student and street medic, I know this woman, is she OK?” “Identify yourself!” commanded the largest officer in return. The next few moments happened very quickly. I did not get to talk to Alice at all. I did not walk over to her. I did not stand between her and the police. I felt unsafe in the enclosed area, and so remained near the door. As the police asserted their dominion over this part of the library, which I have spent literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of hours in over the past year and a half, I was simply taken aback. I was asked, “Are you an Emory student?” It is no trivial fact to note that this question was hollered at me aggressively. Since I opened my interaction with the police by informing them that I am an Emory student, at this point I knew they were not listening to my words. I knew the officers were in a ‘military mindset.’
By ‘military mindset’, I mean something very specific. In this situation, the officer never saw me as a student or the surrounding area as a library. He never asked me something like “How do you know this woman?” or even, “Shouldn’t you be studying during finals time?” Actual context was irrelevant. For the cops, the scene was a Battle. The cop’s comportment demonstrated that I was being viewed as a Potential Enemy and that the library was being deemed a Combat Zone. In a Combat Zone, one does not discuss, one does not reason – one sees only Danger, fighting against it with one goal in mind: Elimination. My presence, for some reason, was seen as the Threat to be Liquidated – even before my ID was demanded. Even so, I reiterated that I was an Emory student. “Yes, I’m an Emory student,” I clearly, if somewhat nervously, stated. At this time, feeling threatened in the enclosed area, I began to back out towards the doorway opening into the main lobby from where I had entered. This is approximately when the video begins.” (Italics mine)
Special thanks to Aaron Bady, for calling this to our attention in this week’s installment of Sunday Reading at Zunguzungu.
