Anti-Bush Protesters Prosecuted for “Unlawful Display of Sign”

[babylonsister]

Anti-Bush Protesters Prosecuted for “Unlawful Display of Sign”
Submitted by davidswanson on Thu, 2007-12-06 21:39. Media

By Matthew Rothschild, Progressive


Jeff Zurawski and Sarah Hartfield had never even gone to a political demonstration before this year. But because they were outraged by Bush’s war, they went to Washington a couple of times and to Camp Casey once.

When they returned to their homes in DuPage County, Illinois, this spring, they decided to try to wake up their fellow citizens.

And so on May 6th, they went out onto the bridge over the North-South Highway and held a banner that said, “IMPEACH Bush and Cheney—LIARS.” They also displayed a flag upside down.

“If I had the money to buy a billboard, I would but I don’t,” says Zurawski, a home inspector. “So that’s what I came up with.”

They were there for about an hour and a half when a state trooper pulled up.

“He said he understood our message, but he was concerned about traffic safety and asked us to take the sign and flag down,” says Hartfield, a medical assistant. “We respectfully did so.”

They started to leave when three deputy sheriffs showed up.

One was irate, they said.

“He was clenching his teeth, and his veins were bulging out, and he was red-faced,” recalls Zurawski. The deputy accused them of throwing things off the bridge.

“Almost simultaneously, Sarah and I said we didn’t throw anything,” Zurawski says. “Then he asked us what our sign said, and demanded to see it. And he was shaking his head back and forth.”

He also told them the upside down flag was “disrespectful to the troops,” adding: “I’m a vet, and I’ve got a kid fighting in Afghanistan,” he said, according to Zurawski and Hartfield, who tried to explain to him that they weren’t being disrespectful to the troops but that they were distressed that Bush was exploiting the troops.

more...

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/29185

[Rex]

1. Dam rookies.

[lonestarnot]

2. And without reading at the link, is anyone suing?

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Perfect Freeper description: "clenching teeth, veins bulging out, red-faced"

Yep.

Living in a state of constant apoplexy because things they don't understand make them angry, and they understand such a small part of the universe that they're constantly confronted with that which is beyond their ken.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

6. "We fear that which we don't understand"

Where is that line between seeking knowledge and fearing it?

Constant apoplexy, ain't it the truth? MKJ

[madeline_con]

4. “disrespectful to the troops,”

Someone really needss to explain disrespect to people like him.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. you have to understand the context

Dupage county is neonazi center. Until about 4 yrs ago, it was lily white, 99.9932% hard core GOP, (hell, Alan Keyes won wards here) and has three versions of cops.
a) Extremely well trained, very polite, very experienced, and damned good cops.
b) neonazi wannabees, who could not get a job on a larger police force, who love driving fast cars with lots of lights, and they just LOVE carrying a loaded gun around.

then you get people like this:
c) truly insane fuckers who will manufacture evidence, especially if you are a minority, who will beat confessions out of you, who will lie, cheat, and perjure themselves on the witness stand, who will falsify records and arrest people for driving while black, and who will allow female arrestees free in exchange for a blowjob.

This area is represented solely by GOPers, in the US house, the Illinois house and the illinois senate.

[Martin Eden]

7. What time is the protest?

"On Tuesday, December 11, there will be a protest in support of Zurawski and Hartfield in the courtyard next to the State’s Attorney’s office at 503 N. County Farm Rd, Wheaton, IL."

I live about 20 minutes from there, and might attend depending on the time of the protest.

[tbyg52]

8. Huh. Almost makes me happy to live in Houston.

At least our freeway bloggers don't get hassled. (I *think*...)

[rockybelt]

9. This is becoming far too common

We read constantly of people who are being arrested, assaulted, intimidated, tasered, etc. at anti bush rallies. I am slow but I am beginning to see a pattern here.

These people that are supposedly representing law and order are people that can be easily manipulated and were referred to by the press during WWII days as "goons. These goons became brown shirts that were like moths drawn to the light.

The brown shirts became nazis that were infatuated with Hitler.

The Nazis branched out to become the gestapo.

The gestapo started running the camps.

You get the picture.

What is happening are not isolated events. What is happening is the systematic destruction of the Constitution and the persecution of anyone that stands up for the Constitution.

President Bush: "Don't keep throwing the Constitution in my face. It's just a goddamned piece of paper."

You get the picture.

[Th1onein]

10. Here is the state's attorney's email

[e-mail]

His name is Joseph E. Burkett. I suggest we ALL send him an email letting him know we think he's a dirtbag for what he's doing to these protesters.

Here is my email to him:

Mr. Burkett,

You, of all people, who have sworn to uphold the
Constitution and to protect the people that you
represent, set out to take away war protesters' rights
to free speech.

You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Don't you have
anything better to do than create cases against
upstanding, law-abiding citizens who bother to speak
out against the criminal administration in Washington,
DC? These people have courage. You have none. In
fact, you are abusing your power and trampling on the
very rights you swore to protect.

I hope you lose your job. You don't deserve it.

[Martin Eden]

12. Excellent Letter

I'll have to compose one this weekend.

[Th1onein]

13. Thank you.

I think that if the "powers that be" were deluged with these emails/letters every time something like this happened, maybe it wouldn't be so prevalent now. The whole world IS watching, you know? We just have to let them know we SAW.

[Martin Eden]

15. My letter

Mr. Burkett,

I've recently learned of the charges against Jeff Zurawski and Sarah Hartfield. Though this may seem like a minor matter to a state's attourney, it is of major importance to the Constititional liberties that our public servants in every department of Justice at every level of government are sworn to uphold.

Jeff Zurawski and Sarah Hartfield were not engaging in the "disorderly conduct" with which they are charged -- they were exercising their Constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression. They were arrested because a policeman at the scene was personally offended by the content of their sign. The defendants did not resist the police and removed the sign when ordered to do so.

Their arrest goes beyond harrassment. This and similar incidents around the country serve to intimidate citizens and infringe upon their inalienable rights. The United States of America cannot possibly be a beacon of freedom and liberty throughout the world if our own citizens are denied those rights at home.

I implore you to be a servant of the principles upon which our great nation was founded, and make a strong statement in dismissing the charges against Jeff Zurawski and Sarah Hartfield.

[pleah]

11. More cops on steroids.

Drug testing for cops should be mandatory.

[0rganism]

14. Yet somehow, it's okay for Rev. Phelps' bunch to picket soldiers' funerals

I'm not impressed.