Standing in profile for her first mugshot, Angela Swagler decided to smile.
And,
curiously, they let her. Police photographers generally discourage
smiling, but then these officers had already made some exceptions for
Angela … bringing her oatmeal instead of pizza, getting her lip balm
when she asked for it. Maybe it seemed the least they could do,
considering.

But Angela had no illusions that these small
indulgences changed anything. On this hot summer night, in a strange
town, several of these police officers were still determined to
humiliate her. Vested with defending the law, they had already shown
themselves more than willing to shove the law aside to silence her and
the rest of her small group of Christian young people.
Angela was afraid, but she wouldn’t let them see it. So she looked at the camera
and smiled...
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