Free at last!

No one really knows the time, but we think it is almost 2pm when we are finally led into the hall, all 6 of us. We are told to spread our legs, lift one leg, and an officer begins to undo our cuffs.

I am surprised, we are not going to have to be cuffed in court, or maybe they will just cuff our hands.

We catch glimpses of some of the men in an adjacent hall & raise our voices in greetings! We are told to be quiet.

When all 6 of us are uncuffed, we are instructed by a white male officer to head down the hallway, make a left, go up the escalators and leave the building.

I am sputtering, not being able to form the questions, as are everyone. Then I'm deeply suspicious, are they wanting us to 'escape' so we can be recaptured and the charges escalated?

A uniformed police officer comes into the hall, hands uplifted in greeting, and motions for us to follow him, he will show us out. We ask if this is an escort to court, and he says we are being let out along with Dr. West and the other men who were arrested.

This officer turns out to be an ally and an admirer of Dr. West, and by default those of us who were arrested. He looks too young to be part of the civil rights movement but he certainly wanted to help us. He says there is a big fanfare awaiting us outside the building!