Tell me it ain't so
- From: "whistler" <whistler-ab@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 6 Jul 2006 08:16:42 -0700
Getting Busted for Wearing a Peace T-Shirt
By MIKE FERNER
July 1 - 2, 2006
Yesterday afternoon, drinking a cup of coffee while sitting in the
Jesse
Brown V.A. Medical Center on Chicago's south side, a Veterans
Administration
cop walked up to me and said, "OK, you've had your 15 minutes, it's
time to
go."
"Huh?", I asked intelligently, not quite sure what he was talking
about.
"You can't be in here protesting," Officer Adkins said, pointing to my
Veterans For Peace shirt.
"Well, I'm not protesting, I'm having a cup of coffee," I returned,
thinking
that logic would convince Adkins to go back to his earlier duties of
guarding against serious terrorists.
Flipping his badge open, he said, "No, not with that shirt. You're
protesting and you have to go."
Beginning to get his drift, I said firmly, "Not before I finish my
coffee."
He insisted that I leave, but still not quite believing my ears, I
tried one
more approach to reason.
"Hey, listen. I'm a veteran. This is a V.A. facility. I'm sitting here
not
talking to anybody, having a cup of coffee. I'm not protesting and you
can't
kick me out."
"You'll either go or we'll arrest you," Adkins threatened.
"Well, you'll just have to arrest me," I said, wondering what strange
land I
was now living in.
You know the rest. Handcuffed, led away to the facility's security
office
past people with surprised looks on their faces, read my rights,
searched,
and written up.
The officer who did the formalities, Eric Ousley, was professional in
his
duties. When I asked him if he was a vet, it turned out he had been a
hospital corpsman in the Navy. We exchanged a couple sea stories. He
uncuffed me early. And he allowed as to how he would only charge me
with
disorderly conduct, letting me go on charges of criminal trespass and
weapons possession -- a pocket knife -- which he said would have to be
destroyed (something I rather doubt since it was a nifty Swiss Army
knife
with not only a bottle opener, but a tweezers and a toothpick).
After informing me I could either pay the $275 fine on the citation or
appear in court, Ousley escorted me off the premises, warning me if I
returned with "that shirt" on, I'd be arrested and booked into jail.
I'm sure I could go back to officers Adkins' and Ousleys' fiefdom with
a
shirt that said, "Nuke all the hajis," or "Show us your tits," or any
number
of truly obscene things and no one would care. Just so it's not "that
shirt"
again.
And just for the record? I'm not paying the fine. I'll see Adkins and
Ousley
and Dubya's Director of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, if he wants to
show
up, in United States District Court on the appointed date. And if
there's a
Chicago area attorney who'd like to take the case, I'd really like to
sue
them -- from Dubya on down. I have to believe that this whole country
has
not yet gone insane, just the government. This kind of behavior can't
be
tolerated. It must be challenged.
.
- Follow-Ups:
- Re: Tell me it ain't so
- From: BeeJay Rainbow
- Re: Tell me it ain't so
- From: BeeJay Rainbow
- Re: Tell me it ain't so
- Prev by Date: Re: 531: Number of citations issued to attendees between June 12 and July 2
- Next by Date: Re: sooooooooooooooooooooo
- Previous by thread: A Man Named "Rainbow"....
- Next by thread: Re: Tell me it ain't so
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
