Thirty
years ago (1990) I was arrested after participating in a
demonstration in Greenwich, Connecticut, where I lived at the time. A
group of us conducted a street theater, wearing black robes to
symbolize a funeral for small animals (including rabbits, mice,
guinea pigs) literally tortured to death in L'Oreal laboratories, to
cater to the vanity of heartless women who purchase the cosmetics.
It
took some time (and many such demonstrations), but we eventually won
a victory. L'Oreal did stop testing on animals, due only to our
efforts to save these defenseless creatures from brutal torture.
At
the time of the arrest, I produced and hosted a radio program on
terrestrial radio, WGCH, the only radio station in town. After the
arrest, when my photo appeared on the front page of the Greenwich
Time, I was called into the office of the manager of the station. I
was told that the publicity surrounding my arrest was not good for
the “image” of the station, where I had produced my program since
1987, and had a large audience, and top ratings.
He
suggested that I should give up my activism for animals, or at least
“tone down” my methods of protest. It was clear to me that he had
received “complaints” from some of the town officials.
I
later learned, from a client of my private counseling practice, that
the person who had lodged the complaint was the mayor of Greenwich
(aka First Selectman), who also had a radio program at the station.
According to my client (another official in town government), the
mayor was miffed because my ratings were higher than his (no
surprise, since his program was drop-dead boring) and I had been
given a better time slot than his. I also suspect that the arrest was
politically motivated, as in a posh, old money town like Greenwich,
this sort of unseemly behavior is looked down upon.
Anyway,
I told the manager (who was a very nice man, but apparently, “just
following orders”) that if he wished to take my program off the
schedule, he could do that, but that I would not stop my activism for
animals, nor modify it in any way. This was a matter of principle,
and I would stick to my guns. I told him, You do what you have to do,
and I'll do what I have to do.
He
sighed, and said, Okay, do what you have to do. I stayed at the radio
station until 1991, when I moved from Greenwich.
On
another note, my son was attending Greenwich High School at the time.
Shortly after the arrest, my son came home from school, telling me
that one of his classmates had been boasting that his father (Sgt.
Brown) had arrested some criminals and it made the front page of the
Greenwich Time! The classmate apparently did not know that he was
boasting to someone whose mother was one of the “criminals”.
My
lawyer advised me to plead “no contest” to the minor (though
wrongful) charge and I walked away with no criminal record. That was
the last time I was arrested, though I have continued my activism
(for animals and human rights) ever since.
Barbara
Hartwell
July
26, 2020
This photo is from the front page of Greenwich Time, March 31, 1990. Sgt. Brown of Greenwich Police Dep't is the arresting officer, pictured pointing a finger at Barbara Hartwell (front, right).
Here
is a letter to the editor of Greenwich Time, which they published not
long after the arrest.
Misplaced
Justice
To
the Editor:
I
was arrested on March 30, 1990, in front of the home of James Nixon,
vice president of L'Oreal cosmetics. I was one of the 27 animal
rights activists present that day, all affiliated with the Fairfield
County Animal Rights Alliance and the Washington D.C.-based People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Nine
of us were arrested after delivering petitions holding thousands of
signatures protesting against the cruel and fatal testing of L'Oreal
cosmetics on small and defenseless animals.
The
nine persons arrested were later charged with first degree criminal
trespassing. Also arrested was a free-lance photo-journalist
affiliated with, but not employed by Greenwich Time, whom the police
claimed was “a publicity person for the organization”. In fact,
this journalist is not a member of any animal rights organization,
nor was he ever involved in our group in any way; he was merely
attempting to photograph the protest. The police later – much later
– dropped all charges against him when he demanded a trial to prove
his innocence.
The
protest consisted of a gathering of people who stood across the
street from Mr. Nixon's house (on town property) carrying signs and a
toy stuffed rabbit spattered with red paint to symbolize the torture
and death that animals undergo every day in L'Oreal laboratories. (It
seems that some people, after reading the stories in Greenwich Time,
actually believed that the rabbit had been a real dead animal!)
After
standing across the street for the demonstration, our plan was to
simply deliver the petitions which were piled in miniature coffins
(again to remind Mr. Nixon of the death toll of innocent animals) and
leave. We did not stage a protest on Mr. Nixon's property; we only
entered it briefly to make a delivery of petitions.
According
to Connecticut statute, a person may be charged with criminal
trespass if he or she sets foot on private property after an order
not to enter has been issued. A person may be charged with simple
trespass after entering the property without prior permission to do
so.
Although
we did not have explicit permission to enter the property, we were at
no time warned by anyone not to enter the property, despite the
assertion to the contrary by the arresting officer, Sgt. Brown. Our
sole intent was to deliver the petitions and leave.
As
everyone knows, Jehovah's Witnesses, door-to-door salesmen, political
candidates, Girl Scouts, census-takers, and sundry others enter
private property on a regular basis, all with their own agenda.
Typically, none of these “violators of the law” have been invited
to do so, nor have been given permission to enter private property;
yet we don't read of their arrests on the front page of Greenwich
Time.
The
arresting officer, Sgt. Brown, was quoted in the April 1 Greenwich
Time avowing that all those arrested had been given a warning not to
enter the property. However, the police report written on the day of
the arrest stated that only one person had been warned. Several days
later a “follow-up report” surfaced in which he claimed that all
those arrested had been warned. To which report are we to give
credence? Since this major discrepancy speaks loudly and clearly for
itself, I need not belabor the point. Under the law, police are
required to warn each and every individual, either separately or
collectively, and that warning must be disregarded before an arrest
can be legally made for first degree criminal trespassing.
As
I stated in a Greenwich Time interview after the arrest, I personally
was never warned against setting foot on the property, and since I
had never heard of anyone being arrested for delivering papers to
someone's door, I believed myself to be operating within the limits
of the law. Within a short time after the arrest the charges were
reduced on several of the protesters (including myself), while three
others (including the uninvolved photographer!) were still saddled
with the original criminal trespass charge.
Evidently
the police had changed their minds once again and decided that: not
one, not all, but three people had been warned. (I never learned
whether a third “follow-up report” to this effect had been
issued.)
The
details of the ridiculous ordeal the arrested persons were then
subjected to would require several more pages to relate. Suffice it
to say that between the time of the arrest, complete with handcuffs
and a tour of downtown Greenwich in the “prisoner van” , and the
encounter with the court system, considerable time and money had been
wasted by each of those arrested just to avoid an even worse
nightmare. This travesty of justice is a shameful waste of taxpayers'
money.
Have
we devolved into a police state where citizens cannot exercise their
First Amendment rights? Why don't the Greenwich police find a more
productive use for their time and energies? Like protecting the
public from the real threats in our town: drug dealers, rapists,
burglars, drunk drivers, etc.
Harassing
those persons whose only “crime” is compassion for suffering
animals and the courage to try to put a stop to it shows the sorry
state our system must truly be in. I will continue to use my energies
toward the goal of peacefully and legally making changes which will
get another category of dangerous persons off the streets, out of the
laboratories and off their smug behinds in the corporate boardrooms:
those who ought to be charged with criminal activity are those who
mercilessly exploit and torture living creatures for the love of the
almighty dollar.
Barbara
Hartwell
GREENWICH