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Occupy Wall Street: NYPD Chains Transgender Man To Jail Restroom For 8 Hours

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A transgender man arrested Saturday as part of the Occupy Wall Street protest at the Brooklyn Bridge was verbally and physically humiliated by the New York Police Department (NYPD), including being inappropriately patted-down, segregated from other arrested persons, refused repeated requests for food — despite the fact that other prisoners were fed — and chained for eight hours to the wall of a restroom in an NYC jail, according to a statement he released.

“The NYC police department needs to have a protocol and train its officers on how to treat transgender people. No one should experience the blatant discrimination and embarrassment that I did,” writes justin adkins (who spelled his name in all lower-case letters) in a statement he released that includes the following:

They took me away from the cellblock where they had all of the protestors locked up and
brought me to a room with 2 cells and a bathroom. One small cell was empty and the
large cell had about 8 men who had been arrested on charges not related to the protest.
Unlike me, these men had been arrested for a variety of crimes, some violent. When I
entered the room they had me sit down in a chair on the same portion of the wall as the
restroom, and then handcuffed my right wrist to a metal handrail. I thought that this was
a temporary arrangement as they tried to find me a separate cell as part of some
protocol regarding transgender people, which I later discovered does not exist in New
York City. After about an hour I realized that they had no intention of moving me. I
remained handcuffed to this bar next to the bathroom for the next 8 hours.

The cells, on the other side of the precinct where they had locked up the other 69
protestors, did not have working toilets so every person who had to use the toilet was brought to the one next to where they had me locked to the railing. This was not only
disgusting but also embarrassing. The smell of urine was so strong that I, and the men
locked up in the cell in the room that I was in, mentioned the odor on more than
one occasion.

Once they started bringing women in to use the bathrooms, a short young female officer,
who was in charge of people locked up in the room where I was handcuffed, harshly
turned my chair around with my arm still locked to the railing but now pinned behind my
back. She said that she knew it hurt but that they were bringing in women to use the
restroom and she could not have me watching. I had no interest in watching anyone use
the bathroom, and every-time a male had come into use the restroom I had respectfully
turned away. This process of people coming in and out to use the restroom went on for
the full 8 hours.

I was distinctly treated differently than the other protestors during my entire time at
Precinct 90 in Brooklyn. At one point in the night all of the protestors were given a
peanut butter sandwich and water. I asked for a sandwich three times but of all of the
officers who came in and out of the room where I was handcuffed never acknowledged
my request. I think this was because when I asked for a sandwich the men locked up in
the room I was in asked for one too. I do not know when or how long those men were
being held but I was there for eight hours and had sat on the bridge for about 2 hours
and was never once offered water or a sandwich when my fellow
protestors received both.

The New Civil Rights Movement has reached out to Speaker Quinn’s office for comment.

In an unrelated statement, NY1 reported yesterday on  Saturday’s protest:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the Wall Street protests “misguided” on Friday, and on Sunday, in the wake of hundreds of arrests the previous night, the mayor said the New York City Police Department is handling the demonstrators the right way.

“The police did exactly what they were supposed to do,” said the mayor. “It’s very easy to get a permit to protest, to parade in New York City, as long as it doesn’t interfere with other peoples’ rights.”

Organizers at Zuccotti Park did not want to respond to the mayor’s remarks.

Protesters claimed NYPD officers led them onto the roadway on the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday night, then detained and arrested more than 700 demonstrators.

Police said the protesters were warned beforehand.

It was the latest confrontation between the anti-corporate group and police. A week ago, police pepper sprayed some protesters during a march in Manhattan.

If the demonstrators were expecting much support from local elected officials, they had not received much of it. On Sunday, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a leading mayoral candidate, agreed with Bloomberg’s assessment of the latest event.

“We all have the right to protest. The police, when it spills over into civil disobedience, have the right to arrest individuals who are engaging in civil disobedience, as has happened to me a few times,” said Quinn.

Additionally, adkins also states he is “a trans activist and website developer living in Williamstown, MA. He works at Williams College as the Assistant Director of the Multicultural Center where he coordinates LGBTQ programing, advises students and advocates for LGBTQ-inclusive policies on campus and beyond.”

https://youtube.com/watch?v=P8wdQzAvNJk%3Fversion%3D3%26hl%3Den_US

(Hat tip: Towleroad)

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News

‘He Was the Only One’: Trump Mocked for Declaring Iran’s Moves ‘Shocked’ Him

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March 16, 2026

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President Donald Trump is facing criticism and mockery after admitting he was “shocked” that Iran fought back against Operation Epic Fury.

“Trump just admitted publicly that his administration underestimated the Iranian response to his attack,” The Washington Post’s Josh Rogin reported.

During a meeting of the board governing the Kennedy Center, Trump said, “look what happened. In the last two weeks, they weren’t supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East. Those missiles were set to go after them. So they hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shocked.”

Focusing on Trump’s “shocked” remark, some critics blasted the president, once again, for what many have previously said is a Commander-in-Chief who was unprepared to go to war against Iran.

The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser called Trump’s comments a “Remarkable admission.”

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Former Republican U.S. Rep. Justin Amash declared, “We are governed by complete morons.”

Podcaster Clint Russell noted, “Just FYI, this is the EXACT reason our generals have consistently advised against a war with Iran. Even Charlie Kirk had laid this all out on his show a couple years ago. Iran was no threat to America but they were fully capable of destroying the global economy by striking oil facilities and transit throughout the region.”

Robert Manning, a Distinguished Fellow in Global Foresight at the nonpartisan Stimson Center, wrote: “If so, he was the only one surprised. Strategic planners have war games this for 40 years. Hard to believe JCS [Joint Chiefs of Staff] didn’t advise Trump this was likely.”

“I’m pretty confident every war plan US has ever done in last 30 years gaming out this conflict was based on expectation that Iran could in fact [and] would in fact do this,” noted The Nation’s Jeet Heer.

“Every institution built to prevent exactly this outcome existed, was bypassed, and we are now watching the president express shock at conclusions that were already written in the classified assessments he didn’t read,” observed Christine Villaverde, the chairwoman of Anchoring Democracy.

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Image via Reuters 

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‘Lazy and Unstrategic’: GOP Senator Slams ‘Republican on Republican Violence’

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5 hours ago

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March 16, 2026

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A prominent Republican senator is denouncing his own party while lamenting the lack of an official presidential endorsement in the highly contentious Texas Republican Senate runoff election.

Agreeing that it is a mistake for President Donald Trump to withhold his endorsement of either Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton or U.S. Senator John Cornyn, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) warned, “I think the more time we spend millions of dollars with Republican-on-Republican violence, Democrats are in the marketing department, loving the idea of a competitive runoff.”

“I get tired of Republicans being lazy and unstrategic,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju, appearing to suggest there are other ways for one of the candidates to pull ahead.

“People on my side of the aisle, and people at the far right of the political spectrum, are trying to swing for the fences, and they’re not gonna succeed,” he warned.

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A runoff election between Cornyn and Paxton will take place on May 26, and the president has yet to endorse either contender.

Reports suggest a Cornyn endorsement is more likely, although Paxton has been a reliable MAGA supporter. Trump has even suggested that whichever candidate does not get his backing should quit the race entirely, clearing the way for the presumptive nominee to battle the Democratic nominee, James Talarico.

“The Republican Primary Race for the United States Senate in the Great State of Texas,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, on March 4, “cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer. IT MUST STOP NOW! We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively!”

He vowed to make his endorsement “soon,” but has yet to do so.

Each passing day gives Talarico more time to campaign and build his war chest as the two GOP contenders spend their time and money battling each other.

READ MORE: Gas Prices Near $4 in These Five States

 

Image via Reuters

 

 

 

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Gas Prices Near $4 in These Five States

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8 hours ago

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March 16, 2026

By

Gas prices are continuing to substantially increase, with five states now hovering near $4 a gallon and several others seeing sharp increases as President Donald Trump’s war in Iran enters its 17th day.

“Big gas price hikes just now starting to happen in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri today, which will likely push the national average to $3.75-$3.80 by mid-week,” reports Patrick De Haan, the head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy.

But, he also notes that Michigan and the Chicago area are already seeing $3.99 per gallon as of Monday. Indiana drivers are seeing $3.89, and Ohio and Kentucky are seeing $3.79 per gallon.

De Haan directly attributes the increases to the summer gasoline changeover and the ongoing Iran situation.

“The national average is up 80.0 cents from a month ago and is 66.1 cents per gallon higher than a year ago,” WANE reports, citing GasBuddy’s data.

Drivers should not expect to see prices come down significantly anytime soon.

“Until we see a meaningful resumption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, upward pressure on fuel prices is likely to persist,” De Haan said. “At the same time, seasonal forces are beginning to intensify as several regions complete the transition to summer gasoline, creating a double headwind that could continue driving pump prices higher in the weeks ahead.”

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Image via Shutterstock

 

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