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"UPDATE, May 19, 10:25 a.m. ET Occupy Wall Street activist Cecily McMillan has been sentenced to three months in prison with credit for time served, according to reports. Our original interview with her, from before her sentencing, is below.\n\nWhen Mashable asked 25-year-old Occupy Wall Street activist Cecily McMillan if she felt cheated by the American justice system, she responded while laughing, \u201Cabso-f*cking-lutely.\u201D\nCecily McMillan laying on the road immediately after being taken off the bus on the night of arrest in New York City, March 17, 2012.\nImage:  Zach D Roberts\n\n\nOn Monday, McMillan will be sentenced for assaulting New York police officer Grantley Bovell during a March 17, 2012, Occupy Wall Street anniversary protest at Zuccotti Park. She faces anything from probation to seven years in prison. \n\nMcMillan's lawyers said she was willingly leaving the park that day and elbowed the officer only after he grabbed her right breast from behind. \n\nI wonder what #CecilyMcMillan's #myNYPD moment would be. #Justice4Cecily. @BilldeBlasio pic.twitter.com/iC1KXQ2RrU\n\u2014 Liuba GrechenShirley (@lgrechenshirley) May 6, 2014\n\nThe prosecution suggested that McMillan had given herself the bruises pictured on her breast, and a Manhattan jury of eight women and four men unanimously convicted her of felony assault against the police officer.\nHere is video of the reported incident:\n\nIn an odd turn of events since McMillan's conviction, nine of the 12 jurors later wrote a letter to Judge Ronald Zweibel, urging him to forgo imprisoning the activist after learning she could face up to seven years behind bars. A letter-writing campaign to Judge Zweibel spearheaded by  The Voice Project and Pussy Riot also encouraged a lenient sentencing for McMillian. \nSee also: Pussy Riot Visits NYC Jail to Support Occupy Wall Street Hero\nMashable had a rare opportunity to speak briefly via phone with McMillan as she awaited sentencing at New York's Rikers Island jail. Despite the potential prison time, she seemed in good spirits. We discussed her personal ideology, standing up for what you believe in and her future beyond prison:\nQ: What are you expecting on Monday and what are you prepared for?\nA: Two years in prison.\nQ: How does that make you feel? \nA: Um, I\u2019m not even really sure the word (inaudible) applies to me anymore. \nQ: How are you viewing this jail time, do you think it was all worth it?\nA: Um, yeah, I mean I feel like your dignity is the only thing that is worth it. I think that the value is in the morals that you set up for yourself are the only things that can\u2019t be taken away \u2013 I think they\u2019re the only thing that nobody can take away. You know, jail is just another micro-society. It just happens that here, the problems are far more out in the open, we don\u2019t live with the facades of lies that democracy or capitalism creates for us. \nQ: And when you say you\u2019re prepared for two years, are you prepared for seven if it is seven?\nA: Oooof, um (laughs), I mean, I guess it doesn\u2019t really matter does it? (Um, oh, there\u2019s a fight) Um, but uh, I mean, I guess I\u2019m prepared to face the consequences of my actions, um, if that means standing up for what I believe in, um, standing up for especially what I consider not a political ideology but a personal ideology, non-violence and honesty, the only two things that allow me to live in such a violent and inhumane world. Without that dignity and without those values, uh, it would be impossible for me to tolerate or deal with the violence of the world around me. So it\u2019s not really choice. \nQ: Do you feel cheated by the American justice system?\nA: Uh, yes (laughs) abso-f*cking-lutely (laughs). Like, I am so appalled, but it\u2019s also very humbling because everybody that I am in here with, I mean, for them, this isn\u2019t normal, this isn\u2019t expected, they don\u2019t even think about going to trial. Um, what it\u2019s called here is \u2018blowing trial\u2019 you \u2018blew trial\u2019, there\u2019s not like this idea of your peers \u2013 the democratic process that exists is that people blow trial and you don\u2019t go to trial, I mean, I think that I had more justice than almost everybody else here. \nQ: Do you ever think there will come a time when you\u2019ll run for political office?\nA: No. Absolutely not. I think that there are some people who are very suited for that, um, I myself, uh, prefer to maybe to be the bridge between social movements and political offices, but putting pressure on political office.\n      window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement('script');js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);};\n_msla(\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\",\"twitter_jssdk\");"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/05/19/cecily-mcmillan-sentencing/>