(Keep in mind the only reason I am afraid of jail is becuz when I was in there I got mold sick as obviously its in the walls and I would suffer more permanent disabling damage due to further exposure.
That's why I can't risk jail time. The night I was in there I couldn't breathe great and I got the worst mold headache I've had since living in the moldy apartment that gave me damage to begin with.
You know they don't care so I just am trying to avoid it. If my long term health wasn't an issue I would gladly go to jail or prison for being a persecuted dissident.)
She claims that though I bring up many social issues there's no real reason legally for what I did. She's nice but court appointed which I'm not told means she can only do the bare minimum. She's very nice though and she's cool too. But I really want to fight this.
I want to sue the place or at least have what they did as well as my being exhausted and under duress taken into consideration.
I'm also of an age where this sort of thing wasn't illegal. I didn't know.
I also was recently told that the man George Lopez involved has to take anger management classes due to domestic issues and the McDonalds company is making him take English classes.
The cop put in his report that I didnt like the service and I complained no one spoke English which is not what I said.
He questioned me before the arrest and he isn't using what I said against me he's totally twisting and misrepresenting what I said. Becuz the court hears his report but no one will hear mine unless I go to trial.
The DA is willing to reduce the charges to a misdemeanor with one years probation which I will reject Monday.
I think being gang stalked overtly specifically by authorities in some areas since 2003 is quite enough already.
What they are doing is trying to keep me here so behavior modification can continue as the system would probably harass me to the point of making sure I got into trouble again.
It was so ridiculous after the night in jail I was waiting to be seen quickly by judge and some of the attorneys and others sitting in courtroom would look over at me like I was going to be scared and intimidated. I looked like stone and it frustrated them.
I would be willing to pay a fine that's it. The whole thing is ridiculous and its a frame up. They knew I would react to the harassment at some point.
The cops seemed to know that McDonalds was a screwed up place to begin with.
Also what I wrote was in magic marker on a piece of metal siding and was washed off that night. It cost them nothing.
She claims the content has no bearing and no hate crime charges are involved so why its a felony I don't understand.
Here is my version of events sent to lawyer:
"Events leading up to arrest
and the recent conflict with an employee that works in multiple (McDonalds) locations outside of Central Sq:
May 14th I went into McDonalds located on Mass Ave in Central Square Cambridge,MA. An older male I recognized from past patronage at this location who also worked at a store in Kenmore Sq. (Fenway) Boston.
He seemed to be fumbling with the register as a manager was trying to clear money from other registers near him. He finally signed onto his register with some frustration. I ordered my meal (see receipt).
Due to being short on money I rarely order large sandwiches at fast food restaurants and go for the dollar menu. My usual cheap chicken sandwich which costs anywhere between 1-2 dollars depending on location is what I ordered.
my total seemed pricey so I asked about the order. He had put down a full sandwich for 4.99. I informed him about the mistake and he seemed again stressed and unsure of how to do a refund. I asked for cash to make it simple and he did not reply but fumbled somewhat aggressively with a debit card refund.
he then rang up the correct order and I paid. Originally I had asked for no mayonnaise. He forgot this upon correcting the order and I brought this to his attention upon receiving my food.
he took the sandwich, held it and said in broken English “a third time, no serve. No service”. Basically threatening me that if I had one more problem with my order he wouldn't serve me again.
This was to me outrageous and very bad service. His job is to get a customers order right. Any problems like too many corrections should be directed to a manager to deal with the customer never in this manner. I highly doubt if this is McDonalds protocol. As well as he is the one who was unfocused, frustrated and got the first order incorrect to begin with. I have receipts as well as whatever is on camera.
Upset I asked for the manager and she was a young woman I had seen there almost every day working in the mornings or afternoons. She begrudgingly agreed it was wrong and he was forced into a few word apology then in Spanish said something to her where his hand gestures indicated he was not sorry but still insistent on blaming me for the mistakes.
The manager could not be more unsympathetic or in her handling of this. One of the things she said was that it didn't matter if I was present or not for her speaking to him about what he did because “its going to be in Spanish anyways”.
I stressed that he cannot do that to people as its mind gaming (psychological abuse) which he isn't there for.
At this point the African American security guard came over and interfered by asking “are you here to eat or are you here to talk?” Then was unprofessional and way to personal in handling what he saw as simply a delay in her working on other peoples orders.
This is another issue with this McDonalds that I was going to bring up with Chin Management in Boston. Not only is the service chaotic and the staff usually rude but they had recently in past weeks hired security for this location.
I had come to understand that these were not trained security personnel from a company but simply people from the local African American neighborhood in Central Sq.
There were two African American males I had dealt with in this capacity in my patronage recently in this McDonalds location. Every single one of my experiences with these males that were hired for security had consisted of them performing intimidation on customers specifically anyone who had a backpack or it seemed appeared houseless.
This consisted of stare downs while eating at the tables and they performing intimidation tactics while a customer was ordering at the register, mostly which consisted of standing way too close to the counter in that specific persons space and staring in an intimidating manner while the customer ordered.
I understand that there are two homeless shelters in the direct area The Salvation Army and a ‘wet’ shelter referred to as 240 or 240 Albany or CASPAR that exists specifically for active drug addicts and alcoholics.
However if people are making purchases in the restaurant they should not be profiled and should be allowed the typical 20 min as in other places to consume their food without any intimidation. In the weeks prior to these men performing security in this establishment I saw people's customers there that I knew were homeless staying in shelters locally but no one was loitering.
The only reason that security guards would take the actions that they I saw would be to profile homeless individuals and seek to intimidate them out of coming to the restaurant in future either through intimidation or seeking to get a reaction out of people they know are already living under duress. This is nothing short of psychological warfare.
I mentioned to staff on my first bad experience with a security guard there just a week or so before this incident that he was unprofessional as both security guards exhibit these behaviors towards customers. The man mentioned this to his friend another African American male who proceeded to threaten me by stating “Unprofessional? I’ll burn her house down” whereas I returned that I did not have a house as that is what the backpack on my back indicates. He then proceeded to further the argument by insulting my dental health. The security guard had not nothing to say about this aggressive behavior from one customer his friend to another however.
The males Ive encountered doing security for this establishment in this McDonalds I suspect have little or no training and were picked out of convenience from the locals in the neighborhood.
I contacted Chin Management and left a voicemail simply asking them to contact me concerning some problems with their property, the McDonalds in question. No one called me back.
I was also sleep deprived at this time and had added stressors to my situation due to assisting another houseless woman in the area who has MS by ensuring she was safely put to sleep in a safe location. The relationship was becoming difficult as she began to expect of me what a paid caregiver would be doing and I was in the process of her getting into a women’s shelter and didn't want to leave for a break out of town until she was safely inside.
This worked as a culmative effect especially due to feeling no one from the management was listening.
I walked to the train station and once downstairs the arresting officer came down and aggressively told me to come here. He brought me to an exit with stairs and I told him I dont climb stairs due to my health with my heavy pack which he disregarded and forced me to come with him up the stairs even though I had not yet been convicted of a crime.
(Upon being arrested the policeman DID NOT read me my Miranda rights. I was read my rights at the station around the time that I got my phone calls and had my fingerprints taken from the officer behind the glass doing the booking.)
The arresting officer asked me all kinds of questions. In my heightened anxiety state ( I didn't think writing on the side of a building was that big of a deal. In the old days they would just tell a person who did such a thing help the restaurant clean it off etc) I answered his questioning. I told him about what had happened in the McDonalds today and over many months time briefly.
He seemed to be playing games a bit asking me why I dont just go to the McDonalds in east Cambridge instead. (Why would I go that far out of my way every day when I have to go thru Central to get to other services or to Boston? With a pack as large as mine, my age, physical issues like Bursitis in my hip as of this year I try to keep my traveling very local right now. (I also had issues with being harassed by detectives in that area which I have a series of photos of and was trying to prepare an Internal affairs report for months but did not know exactly how and was afraid of retaliation if I did. As a part of a vulnerable population this is understandable I suppose.
I am wondering if you as an attorney can assist me with this also.)
However when he said east Cambridge at that moment I didn't recall where that was. I simply inquired “Where is that?”
He also told me he considered graffiti to be like someone coming into his living room and writing on the walls. He then questioned me as to what if someone did that to me. I was confused and probably had my mind on the police harassment I had last experienced because I answered as if he had asked me what if he had done something to me and asked “what if you did something to ME you mean? I would contact your police’s internal affairs”. At each of these responses he turned his head and bit his tongue as if he did not get the expected responses he wanted. I still have no idea what that was about but it made the whole ordeal much more stressful.
He also claimed that in a Liberal area like this that the content of the graffiti was going to be an issue. He mentioned possibly being brought in to get an “eval” which I took to mean a psych evaluation which I took as a mild threat.
He said I seemed “..with it” and why was I homeless to which I gave him an abridged short answer consisting of telling him that local corruption led to my situation in part of which he seemed to then become uninterested and do into denial.
The wagon arrived and the driver gave a thumbs up to the arresting officer as he had photographed the content of the graffiti.
The two arresting officers took care to make sure I had my things safely put into the wagon to go with me to the station.
I was allowed multiple phone calls and the overnight at jail was uneventful. The staff there were cooperative and I behaved civilly and politely to them.
My main issues are:
-the officer making me walk up stairs when I informed him of a medical condition
-not being read my rights upon arrest on the street
-being questioned in the manner as above with all sorts of moralizing involved
as for the McDonalds you can plainly see what the situation was. There is harassment, unprofessionalism, bad service and even a purposeful environment of intimidation in that restaurant. No one should have to deal with what goes on in there and in my opinion the staff are indeed reverse racist as well as classist.
My statement on the side of the building was “RACIST N*ggers and Sp*cs work here!”. Is it a hate crime when I am accusing THEM of hate crimes? Specifically in regard to my socio economic status as a ‘homeless’ person who lives below the poverty line.
As far as I could assess I was victimized repeatedly at that restaurant due to my race, gender and class or socioeconomic status.
Before I acted out of pure hurt and frustration as i did i was considering suing the establishment but simply chose to help my friend then travel out of town and leave the adversity behind. Specifically for the behavior of the recently hired young African American males who serve as security there.
The environment in this city has turned very racially divided under President Obama and its been very stressful. The entire area has been taken over by what seems like ‘YUPpies’ and foreigners from backwards sexist third world countries who don't wish to assimilate and barely speak English and they are often put into most food service jobs in metro Boston but specifically Cambridge. For the poor and Caucasian locals there's a feeling of being marginalized. Remember this is one of the only areas in the USA who has a history of reverse racism lawsuits including one by the fire dept.
http://www.adversity.net/policefire_3_massachusetts.htm
http://articles.latimes.com/1996-11-16/news/mn-65324_1_boston-public-schools
The restaurant clearly takes part in profiling homeless and poor people as well as has RACIST HIRING PRACTICES. They also have staff that are plainly reverse racist. I had a friend with me a few times this winter who is very red headed and white but speaks fluent Spanish and he informed me that the staff are being very disrespectful to certain customers speaking in Spanish so obviously they believe that non Latinos cannot understand what they are saying. (I understand that is hearsay as he is not present to make this claim himself).
In other areas of the country I've traveled to if backpacks are a problem due to being associated with travelers mostly, such as Nashville TN, the management put signs in the windows informing customers that backpacks are not allowed.
In a McDonalds in Dallas TX I photographed a sign that told customers “No Sagging (pants) Allowed In This Restaurant”.
Clearly restaurants can refuse service to anyone or make rules as to what is acceptable and what is not.
Then why has this location chosen not to do so to avoid conflict but instead chooses to use covert methods of profiling and harassment/intimidation to rid themselves of what they obviously consider unwanted elements? (I can provide those photos of signs in other McD’s in other states too.)
One of the things that concerns me is that authorities often use being homeless as a way to divert from what businesses or society generally does wrong usually by bringing up the question “Why are you homeless?” I disapprove of this strongly and it is something very offensive and potentially damaging to a vulnerable population of struggling people that needs to cease. I would like your professional advice as to what is the best way to deal with that question, as society is now specifically in a courtroom from a judge during proceedings or from an officer in public or private spaces.
If you need any other information please contact me. This is for use by you my attorney to inform you of my full recollection of the events which led up to my arrest.
Thank you,
Rachael O----
Xxxxxx
Xxxxxxx
Xxxxxxxxxx
BTW I recently went to a Mcdonalds in Kenmore Sq and the older Latino male was working there George Lopez who I wrote about above as being harassing, manipulative, unprofessional and rude.
I've been going to the Kenmore location for years and have been friendly with the former manager (now works in downtown Boston and might be a good character reference for me as a customer) as well as the current manager I see most often- Jim, a kind soft spoken older man who I am amazed deals with Red Sox fans and difficult homeless people who panhandle in the area while retaining a calm and unaffected demeanor.
I simply walked in to buy two cookies as its my daily treat, and I did not avoid Mr Lopez as he was in the back and I did not see him, there was a young employee looking at their smartphone crouching down in the front and i thought this would be who served me. Mr Lopez then came from the back and when he saw me and became agitated, picked up his phone and stated that I wrote on the side of his McDonalds and the police were looking for me. I calmly and with some amusement informed him that i had already been arrested for that and he kept being highly anxious, refused to listen and continued to be aggressive while calling the police in manner that was very distressing to me as i had done nothing wrong and was following the rules of my court date by not going to the McDonalds in Central Sq. He kept exclaiming “No serve, no service, no serve you”. The other employees looked befuddled at his behavior.
I then countered by calling 9-11 myself as I do not consider Mr Lopez to be a reasonable person and in order to protect myself wanted a recorded account of what was transpiring.
The police arrived and a male officer went into the restaurant to get Mr Lopez’s account and a female spoke with me to get mine. Both were professional and pleasant specifically the female officer who dealt with me.
The male officer brought out Mr Lopez and informed him that I had a court date for the incident at the McDonalds in Cambridge. He then asked Mr Lopez if he wanted to trespass me from this location and not serve me on his shift and he said yes. The officer informed me that I was not to go into the McDonalds again and I asked if this was just on his shift or at any time. This took some doing but the answer i got was that it was on his shift as I was wondering if he had the authority to trespass me from that location entirely as I did not see him manage that location as much as I ran into Jim doing so as frequently whom as I stated seems to have no problems with me as a customer. They told me that if I went in there on his shift I he would call the police every time.
He kept talking in very broken English about the graffiti in short sentences and then said “she wrote on the side right here” and pointed to a spot on the side of that building that had a tag on it in blue sharpie almost trying to accuse me of writing on that wall also.
The officers ignored this.
I left the area and as of now do not even sit or go near that McDonalds location which I think is ridiculous considering my peaceful long term patronage there. Its because the staff there are professional, competent with orders and dont harass people."
