NY City Councilman Rodriguez has been released from jail. He was not allowed to talk to a lawyer for 13 hours. His face bares the marks of having been pushed into the ground during his arrest, and he says that others were in worse shape in the jail.
And while he was incarcerated and run through the system, he says he saw firsthand the horrific results of police violence at Zuccotti under the cover of dark early Tuesday morning. He knows it happened, he says, because his cellmates bore the injuries that resulted from the NYPD's overzealous response.
"It was bad. People were bleeding, people were hit in the stomach," Rodriguez said
Why was Rodriguez arrested?
He told them, "I am Councilman Rodriguez and I'd like to go to the park."
That was the last thing he said as a free man that day, on which at least nine journalists and about 200 protesters were arrested.
"Immediately, a group of police officers started using their batons to push me back, I didn't have a choice," he said. "I never raised my hands, I just told them I wanted to go to the park."
The next thing he knew, he was knocked to the ground by a cop, who allegedly proceeded to assault him.
See exclusive interview at international business times
One of the worrisome aspects of this is that his story is by no means unique -- he actually may have been treated better than others arrested because of his stature.