The police uncover their badges. They take off their gas masks. They call for anyone who wants to get arrested to move forward. Someone hands the Chief of police a bouquet of roses. The tension eases.
Jugglers appear, and fire eaters dancing with flames, and radical cheerleaders, and drum circles.
We stand up, hovering together as the cold rain falls. Under our feet is a labyrinth someone has drawn, which the rain does not wash away. Meanwhile those who volunteered to get arrested in order to make a statement about justice are kept in handcuffs for many, many hours. They are hit in the face for smiling, or for asking to see a lawyer. They are kept in wet clothes shivering with hypothermia.