And you thought the United States of America was a free country
Well, guess again. It's not as free as you might think. Here's a sample of what I'm talking about:
Arrest, Death Threat, for Farmer with Upside Down Flag
By Matthew Rothschild
July 19, 2006
[...]
“When I got the Des Moines Register and read the article about Terri Jones and how her son didn’t get the medical attention he needed, I decided I’m going to support her and oppose what the judge had done and fly my flag upside down,” he says.
[...]
“The next thing I knew I’d been charged with disorderly conduct,” he says. “I was surprised. I have the right and the freedom to do that.”
Read entire article at: http://progressive.org/mag_mc071906
Criticizing Cheney to His Face Is Assault?
By Matthew Rothschild
October 4, 2006
Steve Howards says he used to fantasize about what he’d say to President Bush or Vice President Cheney if he ever got the chance.
That opportunity arrived on June 16, the same day he says he read about U.S. fatalities in Iraq reaching 2,500.
[...]
So I approached him, I got about two feet away, and I said in a very calm tone of voice, ‘Your policies in Iraq are reprehensible.’ And then I walked away.”
[...]
But the Secret Service did not take kindly to his comment.“About ten minutes later, I came back through the mall with my eight-year-old son in tow,” Howards recalls, “and this Secret Service man came out of the shadows, and his exact words were, ‘Did you assault the Vice President?’ ”
[...]
“He grabbed me and cuffed my hands behind my back in the presence of my eight-year-old son and told me I was being charged with assault of the Vice President,”Howards recalls.
Read entire article at: http://progressive.org/mag_mc100406
"Bushit" Bumpersticker Owner Files Lawsuit
By Matthew Rothschild
October 17, 2006
Denise Grier, the Georgia nurse who was cited for having a bumpersticker that read “I’m tired of all the Bushit,” has filed suit.
She is suing DeKalb County, the chief of the county police department, and the officer who pulled her over on March 10 and issued her a $100 ticket for having a “lewd decal.” (See “McCarthyism Watch,” http://progressive.org/mag_mc032706.)
Three weeks later, the ticket was dismissed because the “lewd decal” statute had been ruled unconstitutional by the Georgia Supreme Court in 1991.
Grier alleges that she was deprived of her First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
“It was outrageous,” Grier said in a statement. “He pulled me over for his own political agenda, and grossly abused his authority in violating my free speech.”
Read entire article at: http://progressive.org/mag_mc101706
I know first hand how this feels because it happened to me: Animal rights protest at circus gets 2 caged
I won the case but shouldn't have been arrested in the first place.
