Activists Are Left Fired Up by Protest Participation

Bonnie Cox got her baptism in political activism at the Democratic National Convention this week when the Ventura woman protested police brutality, destruction of wetlands and globalization of the economy.

On Thursday, Cox, 20, pasted a phony $100 bill to her forehead and demonstrated outside the Citibank building in downtown Los Angeles.

The entire experience, she said, has filled her with energy and the thirst for more knowledge and causes to stand up for.

“It’s been rad just being here,” she said. “I’ve always been interested in social change.”

Cox was critical of media coverage of the protests in the convention area this week and said it had a tendency to “make us feel young, ignorant and stupid.”

After the marchers returned to Pershing Square, Cox and her friend, Michael Kenji of Thousand Oaks, sat on a corner of lawn and considered the past week, the value of protest and where to get a decent vegetarian lunch in Los Angeles.

“The big thing is police brutality,” said Kenji, 21. “My friend’s dad got shot in the back and paralyzed by police in Simi Valley while he was on his knees and his hands up in the air.”

He scratched his blond head.

“I’m hoping this will bring forth a new generation of freethinkers,” he said. “I don’t believe utopia exists. There will always be something to complain about, we’ll always need to fight for a better life.”

Cox does volunteer work in Ventura for the group Food Not Bombs, which distributes free food.

As she watched the crowds dwindle, Cox wrote such slogans as “Protect and Serve=To Keep From Harm or Injury” and “Only You Can Prevent Police Brutality” on a small umbrella.

Meanwhile, Kristen Schroer, 18, of Thousand Oaks was still being held by the Los Angeles Police Department after her arrest Wednesday for allegedly blocking a sidewalk outside the Rampart station during a protest, lawyers said.

Adam Eidinger, a spokesman for Midnight Special Law Collective, which has offered free legal services to those jailed, said three of the 37 people arrested Wednesday had paid fines and been released, but Schroer wasn’t among them.

Representatives from the group met with those arrested Wednesday night.

Eidinger said the group was practicing “jail solidarity,” which means they are not cooperating with police by providing their names and background information.