The Colorado Independent: I have been trying to “act like a lady.” 

That was my order from two Denver cops who handcuffed me a year ago today when I attempted to take a picture of one of their badges. Officer James Brooks apparently didn’t want the attention after he had made up bogus legal reasons for why he was refusing to let me photograph his colleagues’ handling of a black man they had detained and forced to sit naked on a Colfax Avenue sidewalk.

Brooks and officer Adam Paulsen weren’t interested in hearing me say they were violating my First Amendment rights and hurting me. They were more concerned that I submit to them, wrestling my arms behind my back, no matter how unconstitutional their reason. 

“Stand up straight,” Paulsen said as I was being cuffed. “Act like a lady.”

“Stand up and act like a lady,” Brooks repeated.

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