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An Injury to One is an Injury to All…

NFP Member Alex Svoboda Injured
in Rhode Island Labor Protest


Matthew Gregory
NFP State Office Manager

In Czech, as well as other Slavic languages, the word svoboda means “freedom.” What better metaphor exists to depict the state of free speech and civil liberties in America than the photographs of Alex Svoboda being brutalized by North Providence, Rhode Island police during a demonstration for worker’s rights?

On Saturday August 11, 2007, members of the Industrial Workers of the World organized a march on Jackie’s Galaxy, a restaurant chain supplied by HWH, a supplier notorious for its slave labor conditions of up to 110 hours per week at less than $5 an hour without overtime or other work benefits.

Alex Svoboda, 22 years old at the time, originally from Lincoln and a graduate of Lincoln High School, is a current resident of Providence, where she studies Spanish at the Community College of Rhode Island. She was in the demonstration that day playing a drum, looking forward to a game of kickball following the protest.

Roughly 30-40 supporters were marching towards Jackie’s Galaxy in North Providence when police surrounded the group with their squad cars and told the marchers to move to the sidewalk. A scuffle ensued and Alex was tackled and pinned down by three police officers. Accused of attacking officers with her drum sticks, she suffered a broken and dislocated left leg and a severed main artery to her lower leg.

These injuries have required four surgeries already with more on the way, and she will require extensive rehab. Alex spent many days in intensive care while doctors restored blood flow to her leg via a bypass graft. Surgical incisions to relieve pressure in her lower leg and removal of the “erector set” of pins and rods that held her leg in place for 11 days were also performed. Reconstruction of her four knee ligaments is on hold until her leg can withstand the pressure of a tourniquet necessary for such procedures.

Right now Alex is back at home and is getting around with the help of her ten roommates.

Originally charged with three felony counts of assaulting a police officer (later reduced to misdemeanors, as well as resisting arrest and disturbing the peace), Svoboda pleaded ‘not guilty’ in an arraignment September 13. The now 23-year-old was released on personal recognizance and is due back in court October 4 for a pretrial conference.

Nebraskans for Peace wasted no time in coming to the defense of one of our own. On August 26, a few hundred people came out to the Capitol in a show of support for Alex, with stirring speeches from Alex’s family members, including her brother Nick and mother Jan Enstrom. The Lincoln event coincided with a rally in North Providence that drew approximately 250 counter-protesters defending the officers’ brute force.

On September 16, a family friend, Adam Williams, and Nebraskans for Peace organized a benefit concert at the Box Awesome in Lincoln in support of Alex, which included performances from local artists The Awkwords, Lockheed Electra, and Kansas City’s We Are… The Argument, among other groups. The artists and venue were very generous that evening and a nice chunk of change was raised for her medical bills and legal fees.

Alex’s treatment by the police has raised controversy in Lincoln and Providence, mostly revolving around a permit to demonstrate and the level of force used against her.

The marchers were demonstrating without a permit, although they say they were following officers’ orders to move out of the street when three officers restrained and tackled Alex. The police report stated that the demonstration had 100 people while protesters put the number between 30 and 40, as photos from the march appear to confirm. The photos also tell a gruesome story, showing a mortified Alex pinned to the ground a few feet from a building, which does not appear to be very close to a street, indicating Alex was already well away from the street upon the point of brutal force.

The police report also mentions that Alex attacked the police officers with her drum sticks. One has to question the how a petite 22-year-old woman was a threat to three officers who brandished mace, clubs and guns, not to mention men of greater physical stature and trained in defensive techniques. In an interview with her father, Scott Svoboda, he rattled off a list of relatives that are law enforcement officers, making his case that Alex has been taught to respect authority figures and been around them her entire life. On top of all this, the mayor continues to change the official story from first proclaiming that Alex tripped over her drum to now saying that she was yanked out of the crowd by the police.

The North Providence Police Department has defended the actions of the officers and all three remain on active duty.

Because of her injuries, surgeries, and subsequent rehabilitation, Alex will be unable to work for a significant period of time. Money will be needed to provide Alex with legal support in her defense as well as to help with the astronomical medical bills that she will accumulate.

The good news in all of this is that the restaurant owner said he doesn’t do business with the distributor any longer, and Alex’s recovery is free of complications as of press time. But more help with legal fees and medical bills is needed. Donations can be made to: Alexandra Svoboda Fund, c/o Citizens Bank, 120 Waterman Street, Providence, RI 02906.