A Sunday in the park

I've been debating whether or not to talk about this incident on my homepage.

The truth is that I learned a great deal from what happened, so it would be remiss of me not to take the risk and share the story with you. So, here we go...

Last Sunday afternoon I was heading towards the National Cathedral to photograph an outdoor play. The performance was being dedicated to the memory of Monseñor Gerardi, a bishop assassinated seven years ago today because of his work on behalf of human rights in Guatemala.

Unfortunately, I never made it to the performance.

As I approached Central Park I was amazed to see a massive deployment of police officers, complete with police buses, trucks, vans, pickups, and patrol cars. Evidently they were doing a "sweep" of the park to capture gang members and the like. Needless to say, the camera came out of the bag and I started taking photographs. It's what I do.

The ironic part is that nothing really exciting or newsworthy was happening... until, that is, they came after me!

A high-level member of the Berger administration who was present at the activity took offense at my presence and began questioning me.

While there is nothing wrong with taking photographs of public officials during a public activity in a public place, I realized that I had committed one error: I had left my passport at home. (Remember, I was basically crossing the street from where I live to take pictures of a play, for cryin' out loud. I had no idea I'd be facing an interrogation.)

Loooong story short... I was ordered into Police custody and held in the back of a patrol car parked along sixth avenue.

This definitely wasn't going to be the Sunday afternoon I had planned. In fact, it had all the signs of a tragedy in the making. But from strife often comes insight, and on this day I was to learn... well, relearn... a simple, yet profound lesson:

ALWAYS CARRY YOUR FREAKING PASSPORT WITH YOU!

No, I'm kidding. I mean, yeah, from now on I'll always have at least a photocopy of my passport with me... but that wasn't the lesson.

The lesson is: The police aren't the bad guys.

Now I realize that this is a rather odd revelation to experience while under guard in a police car. And some of you might be wondering if I'm not suffering from a mild case of Stockholm Syndrome: a captive identifying with his captors. And yet others might, rightly, cry: "what about the CAFTA protests? What about the teargas, and the batons, and the bullets?"

Let me put it this way: I will always reject, denounce, and condemn acts of intimidation, oppression, and violence by those in authority. Just as I oppose and lament any protest actions which are offensive, abusive, or destructive. (Surely the popular movement can rise above the merely confrontational with acts that are creative, original, educational, and consciousness-raising!)

The uniformed men and women who were ordered to detain me, treated me with kindness, respect and good humor. We even swapped stories, compared the cultural quirks of our respective countries, and laughed at each other's jokes.

After more than a hour had passed, I was escorted to the US Embassy in the company of nine police officers! (For a brief moment I was the safest gringo in Guatemala.)

At the Embassy I was assisted by an extremely helpful Duty Officer who confirmed for the police that I was indeed Rob Mercatante, U.S. citizen. (Da-da-da-da!)

Since there were no actual charges against me, my time in custody came to sudden end. The police officers came around to say "good-bye", handshakes and all, and the Embassy rep kindly called me a cab ride home.

In Guatemala there have been acts of such unspeakable violence and inhumanity as to merit the term "pure evil". And there have been, and there still are, individuals of such malicious intent, and so dark of heart, that they too have earned the title of "evil".

But the great mass of us... protestors, police officers, and photographers alike... seem to exist somewhere between the extremes of saint and sinner. What unites us, in the end, is our common humanity. And once we recognize that, we can begin to build a better world.

And that is the lesson I learned on Sunday. That, and the passport thing.

Posted by elcanche at April 26, 2005 07:51 PM