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West Virginia: Couple in anti-Bush T-shirts were arrested at president’s speech
A husband and wife who wore anti-Bush T-shirts to the president’s Fourth of July appearance aren’t going down without a fight: They will be represented by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union as they contest the trespassing charges against them Thursday morning in Charleston Municipal Court.
Police took Nicole and Jeff Rank away in handcuffs from the event, which was billed as a presidential appearance, not a campaign rally. They were wearing T-shirts that read, “Love America, Hate Bush.”
Spectators who wore pro-Bush T-shirts and Bush-Cheney campaign buttons were allowed to stay.
(snip)
After police arrested the Ranks, fingerprinted them and took their mug shots, FEMA told Nicole Rank she was no longer needed in West Virginia.
“I have not been fired per se,” she said. “But I was released from this job. And when they release you from a job, you no longer get paid.”
(snip)
Since Bush took office in early 2001, people have been banned from displaying anti-Bush messages at dozens of Bush appearances across the country. In September, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit against the Secret Service, seeking an injunction against the Bush administration for segregating protesters at his public appearances.
The Secret Service agreed that such censorship was wrong, said Witold Walczak, one of the lawyers that filed the lawsuit.
“They had an internal memo dated September 2002, saying they couldn’t treat protesters differently or worse” than anyone else at a presidential appearance,
A husband and wife who wore anti-Bush T-shirts to the president’s Fourth of July appearance aren’t going down without a fight: They will be represented by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union as they contest the trespassing charges against them Thursday morning in Charleston Municipal Court.
Police took Nicole and Jeff Rank away in handcuffs from the event, which was billed as a presidential appearance, not a campaign rally. They were wearing T-shirts that read, “Love America, Hate Bush.”
Spectators who wore pro-Bush T-shirts and Bush-Cheney campaign buttons were allowed to stay.
NO wonder Bush unbcluding his daddy and their party hates ACLU. We all know Dukakais was acard carrying ACLU member.
__________________
Those who sacrifice liberty of some to purchase a little temporary safety, will have neither liberty nor safety.
This is nothing new. There have been quite a few people who get arrested for having anti-Bush signs or wearing anti-Bush t-shirts, whilst pro-Bush people right next to them are not hassled at all.
This is nothing new. There have been quite a few people who get arrested for having anti-Bush signs or wearing anti-Bush t-shirts, whilst pro-Bush people right next to them are not hassled at all.
This is the kind of America Bush wants to see.
This is certainly news to me. This kind of action may be prevalant in Communist/dictatorial regimes, but is totally un-American.
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When I lived in Washington D.C., I had 2 buddies who showed up at a Clinton appearance with anti-Clinton signs. They were hassled by the Secret Service, had their signs taken, and were shooed off. Not wanting to take on the SS, they remained peaceful and left the scene on their own.
I think these situations speak more about the practices of the Secret Service than they do about the president or either political party. The SS certainly has a lot of leeway when it comes to protecting the POTUS - leeway that other cops (even the FBI) don't seem to have. I think that crosses the line when they get into hassling obviously-peaceful protesters, but then again they probably define "obviously-peaceful" differently than I do.
I still think they were wrong in this case to arrest the two T-shirt wearers.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PG
Bad analogy. Someone who wears an anti-Bush shirt can in no way be compared to the KKK. Whatever happened to the right to public dissent?
I agree...the key difference is that it is common and accepted for people to show up at appearances by their political opponents to peacefully protest. We do it for both right and left causes, and the right to do so is Constitutionally protected provided we do it peacefully and tastefully.
The KKK shows up mainly looking to start a streetbrawl. I don't doubt that peaceful protests can take place at NAACP conventions, but the KKK is a bad example.
I agree, but not having been there myself to witness the actions/reactions, I will not make a call whether or not they needed to be detained.
This is kind of like the KKK showing up at an NAACP Rally and being surprised when they get rocks thrown at them.
Don't you think that just for once it would be possible for a Bush supporter to admit it's wrong? I'm sure it's possible that there is more to this case than meets the eye, but still... The KKK analogy is kind of silly...
This wasn't an NAACP rally, it was the US government taking them away, not some private organisation.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottC
Don't you think that just for once it would be possible for a Bush supporter to admit it's wrong? I'm sure it's possible that there is more to this case than meets the eye, but still...
I'm not a Bush supporter, but underpressure's initial take about actions/reactions makes sense. We really don't know the whole story or whether the T-shirt-wearers were provoking confrontation. I suspect that if you wear a T-shirt advocating a hate message, you might also be one to seek out confrontation. I'm not justifying the actions of the agents, but it is possible that these two detainees are not without blame.
I'm not a Bush supporter, but underpressure's initial take about actions/reactions makes sense. We really don't know the whole story or whether the T-shirt-wearers were provoking confrontation. I suspect that if you wear a T-shirt advocating a hate message, you might also be one to seek out confrontation. I'm not justifying the actions of the agents, but it is possible that these two detainees are not without blame.
Yes, if it were a KKK t-shirt yes. Or a competing sports team t-shirt in their seats.
But in a public place, arrested by the governement? That is a totally different ballgame.
Can we please focus our priorities on fighting a war against Al Qaeda and terrorists? But it seems our government is equally or more afraid of Americans who are simply expressing their free speech. Recent attempt to ban gay marriages also gives the impression that the government really is afraid of gay people too.
West Virginia: Couple in anti-Bush T-shirts were arrested at president’s speech
