New Face of Occupy: Pepper-Sprayed Woman, 84

Dorli Rainey hit during a march in Seattle yesterday
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 16, 2011 6:48 AM CST
Updated Nov 16, 2011 7:36 AM CST
New Face of Occupy: Pepper-Sprayed Woman, 84
Seattle activist Dorli Rainey, 84, reacts after being hit with pepper spray during an Occupy Seattle protest on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011 at Westlake Park in Seattle.   (AP Photo/seattlepi.com, Joshua Trujillo)

Dorli Rainey is not the first person to be pepper-sprayed at an Occupy protest—but she may turn out to be the most memorable. A photographer caught an image of a pained Rainey—age 84—being led from yesterday's Occupy Seattle gathering. The Post-Intelligencer reports that police turned the pepper spray on the crowd, which was marching from its camp to Westlake Park in the afternoon, hitting Rainey, along with about a dozen others—including a priest and a pregnant 19-year-old.

The AP reports that the 4-foot 10-inch Rainey is a longtime activist and supporter of liberal causes in Seattle. She sent The Stranger an email explaining that she decided to investigate the scene on her way to a transportation meeting, after hearing helicopters above. She writes, "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." The AP has this very considerate reaction from a rep for the Seattle PD: Pepper spray "is not age specific. No more dangerous to someone who is 10 or someone who is 80." (More Occupy Wall Street stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X