DAVID SHUSTER: What have the conversations been like between you and other police officers, particularly those who were arresting you?
RAY LEWIS: There was — well, there was basically silence, but one officer did say that, on the sly, that I had the testicles of an elephant.
SHUSTER: And do you think — tell me the reaction of the Occupy Wall Street activists when they see — here is a former police officer joining their ranks?
LEWIS: Well, at first — I fully expected this — it was like, "Is this a reverse psychology type of thing? He's not the scraggily looking guy trying to infiltrate. So maybe now they are going to use this guy, but he is still working for the police." So, it took awhile. And I never asked to join any meeting. I showed up anonymously. I took my rain coat off. I was there. I held my sign and then I left. I never asked to participate. Just recently, I was asked to participate in the first, "general assembly meeting" that they have.
SHUSTER: Take me, again, back to your arrest — what you were doing, what happened, how they handled you, what the circumstances were.
LEWIS: It was a perfectly legal arrest. I committed civil disobedience by sitting in the street and refusing to move. The conduct of the police in arresting me — and all of the protesters I saw that were arrested — was exemplary. And I will say the day that they -- the moment that I was walking across that intersection — was the proudest moment of my life.
SHUSTER: How so?
LEWIS: Because I thought I was doing the greatest thing I have ever done. And I have had many academic achievements recognized, professional achievements, but I considered that to be the most important thing I ever did.
SHUSTER: And it sounds like you don't have a problem with police arresting people who commit peaceful acts of civil disobedience, walking in the middle of the street. Your main issue, though, is — when they are going through and tearing down Zuccotti Park or when they're mishandling people in the course of those arrests — that's where things have gotten so out of control?
LEWIS: Yes. And it's not the blue shirts that's responsible for that. One thing I was amazed at, in seeing all of the pictures, was the amount of white shirts. White shirts are the supervisors. The blue shirts are the front-line fighters. White shirts are there to supervise. And they have got to stand in the back. They can't be having the urine thrown on them, the rocks and bottles thrown on them. They have to have the clear mind. If they are not enduring that type of abuse, they can maintain a clear mind and, that way, they can look and see what's going on that shouldn't be going on and then step forward with a clear mind to stop it. When you are involved with the arrest and the fighting, who is supervising?
SHUSTER: Retired police captain from Philadelphia, Ray Lewis — who now lives in upstate New York. Captain Lewis, thanks so much for coming on. We appreciate you joining us and salute your courage.
LEWIS: Again, thank you for helping the movement.
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