So...given the legal precedent, might a "citizen's arrest" of the arresting
agents be defensible in court? (This assumes that there are large numbers of
protestors, of course, willing to apprehend the rogue officers.)
-TD
From: Nostra2004@SAFe-mail.net
To: cypherpunks@al-qaeda.net
Subject: We werent doing anything wrong
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 15:36:32 -0400
http://www.wvgazettemail.com/static/stories/2004071346.html
Couple in anti-Bush T-shirts were arrested at presidents speech
By Tara Tuckwiller
tara@wvgazette.com
A husband and wife who wore anti-Bush T-shirts to the presidents Fourth of
July appearance arent 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.
We werent doing anything wrong, said Jeff Rank. The couple, who said
they had tickets just like everybody else, said they simply stood around
the Capitol steps with the rest of the spectators.
We sang the national anthem, Rank said.
The Ranks hardly fit the image of rabble-rousers. Jeff Rank, 29, has a
masters degree in oceanography. Nicole Rank, 30, has degrees in biological
science and marine biology. They have been married for seven years.
Nicole Rank arrived in Charleston soon after the Memorial Day floods. She
was working as deputy environmental liaison officer for the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, making sure cities and counties obeyed federal
environmental laws as they repaired roads and bridges.
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.
The Ranks started to go home to Corpus Christi, Texas, but they only got as
far as Roanoke, Va., when it occurred to them that they might not be able
to contest their arrest if they werent in Charleston on their court date.
A phone call confirmed their suspicions. So they turned around.
Weve been living in motels ever since, said Jeff Rank, who spent Tuesday
evening in his motel room with his wife, their cocker spaniel Feinman, and
their marmalade cat Rowr.
Its extremely difficult [financially]. We can only afford to do this for
so long.
But they had to stay and fight the charges, he said, because we didnt
think we were guilty.
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 couldnt treat
protesters differently or worse than anyone else at a presidential
appearance, Walczak said. The judge said any agent responsible for doing
so could be held liable for damages.
The Secret Service had been telling local police to sequester anyone
displaying an anti-administration message, usually in areas completely out
of sight and earshot of Bush. Because the Secret Service agreed with the
ACLU that it shouldnt be doing that, the judge dismissed the case.
Prior to filing our suit in September, wed get a couple of confirmed
protest zone complaints every month, Walczak said. After we filed,
there were practically none. We had two documented incidents between
September and March: one in Little Rock, Ark., and one in Knoxville, Tenn.
But now, lawyers like Walczak are carefully monitoring cases like the
Ranks and two similar incidents recently in Pennsylvania.
Were trying to assess what is going on at these appearances ... whether
these protest zones are resuming, he said.
We are continuing to monitor all campaign events by both Republican and
Democratic candidates. Were prepared to go back into court if we see
discrimination occurring.
Because Bushs Fourth of July stop in Charleston was billed as an official
presidential visit, not a campaign rally, That makes it an even more
glaring violation of the First Amendment, said Andrew Schneider, executive
director of the ACLU of West Virginia.
Its an Orwellian way to keep speech out of sight of those the speech is
intended to critique ... We want to nip this in the bud before it becomes a
habit of future administrations.
A Bush spokesman did not return a telephone call seeking comment on the
necessity of the free speech zone.
To contact staff writer Tara Tuckwiller, use e-mail or call 348-5189.
Tyler Durden