the thin blue line once again protected you from a fruit vendor thereby making your world safe for 'democracy';

New York, NY — In the land of the free, attempting to earn money in certain professions without first paying the state for the privilege of doing so can and will get you kidnapped and extorted. These laws are applied to children behind lemonade stands as well as adults selling tacos. The state callously and with extreme prejudice has been documented arresting people, or even beating up women to enforce these licensing laws. In the case below, one woman’s persecution — including kidnapping and strip searching — goes all the way to the top, thanks to New York City’s new mayor.

On April 29, Maria Falcon, a mother from Queens, and long time fruit vendor, had knocked off for the day from selling fruit and was sitting with her daughter when two of NYPD’s finest approached them. By this time, Falcon was not selling fruit any longer but because she had her cart with mangos, melons, and other fruits on it, those two officers, put her in cuffs and kidnapped her.

“I felt terrorized,” Falcon told amNewYork. But this was only the beginning of Falcon’s nightmare. Below is the footage, taken by her daughter and posted to Twitter over the weekend.......read and tweet more......