Recently released photographs and video from the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) protest outside the final presidential debate in Hempstead, NY on Oct. 15 clearly shows IVAW member Nick Morgan getting trampled on by Nassau County police on horseback, according to Emily Forman of I-Witness Video.

The images have emerged less than two weeks before the “Hempstead 15″ — the group of 10 Iraq War veterans and 5 civilians who were arrested at the debate– are due to show up for their first court date in Nassau County on Nov. 10.

Members of the “Hempstead 15″ are calling for supporters to show their support by packing the courthouse at 8 AM, located at 99 Main St. in Hempstead. They are facing charges of “disorderly conduct” and “failure to obey a lawful order.”

I-Witness Video is a group dedicated to using video to protect protestors’ civil liberties. In an email message to the Indypendent, Forman writes, “The video is extremely disturbing and clearly shows Iraq War Veteran Nick Morgan at the moment when his head was crushed to the sidewalk under a police horse. This story has been completely ignored in the media. He was legally, peacefully … standing on the sidewalk when the event occurred.”

Morgan, a former U.S. Army sergeant who served in Iraq from 2004-2005, had to undergo surgery after the incident outside Hofstra University. After the protesters, fronted by a group of about 15 members of IVAW, were pushed back to a nearby sidewalk, Nassau County police mounted on horseback charged onto the sidewalk. It was during this melee where Morgan’s face was trampled on.

In a post on the IVAW website, Morgan writes, “I have spent several hours at the VA in Philadelphia and will be having surgery on Thursday, Oct. 23rd [today] to stop my eye from sinking into my sinus cavity. The lower orbital (cheekbone) on the right side of my face is broken in three places. My nose may be fractured but will heal by itself since it is not out of place. I also have scrapes, bruises, and significant pain in my ribs (the x-rays were negative).”

An online petition has been circulating to demand justice for Morgan, with over 200 signatures having been gathered to date. A Facebook group in support of the “Hempstead 15” has over 3500 members.

Sgt. Kristofer Goldsmith, one of the two IVAW members who organized the protest outside Hofstra University, is urging supporters to come to the courthouse. “On November 10th 2008, the Marine Corps Birthday, and one day before Veterans Day, we will be heard in court. We would like to invite you to come out in support of the very Freedoms granted by the United States Constitution that we swore to uphold and defend when joining the military,” writes Goldsmith on the group’s Facebook page.