84-Year-Old Woman Pepper Sprayed During Occupy Seattle Protest

84-year-old Dorli Rainey was pepper sprayed during a peaceful march last night. She would have been thrown to the ground and trampled, but luckily a fellow protester and Iraq vet was there to save her.

Image by Joshua Trujillo / AP

She later wrote about the incident:

“Something funny happened on my way to a transportation meeting in Northgate. As I got off the bus at 3rd and Pine I heard helicopters above. Knowing that the problems of New York would certainly precipitate action by Occupy Seattle, I thought I better check it out. Especially since only yesterday the City Government made a grandiose gesture to protect free speech. Well free speech does have its limits as I found out as the cops shoved their bicycles into the crowd and simultaneously pepper sprayed the so captured protesters. If it had not been for my Hero (Iraq Vet Caleb) I would have been down on the ground and trampled. This is what democracy looks like. It certainly left an impression on the people who rode the No. 1 bus home with me. In the women’s movement there were signs which said: “Screw us and we multiply.’”

Image by Joshua Trujillo / AP