War protesters take their cause to the mall (NY)

[struggle4progress]

BY MATTHEW CHAYES
[e-mail]
9:01 PM EDT, June 28, 2008

Iraq War protesters once again all but dared a mall chain to eject them Saturday for wearing T-shirts identical to the red-splotched one that landed an 80-year-old peace activist in jail earlier this year when he refused a mall's demand he take his shirt off or leave ...

As the protesters walked, they were trailed by at least a dozen mall officials, security guards and publicists. Guards on foot and riding on Segway motorized scooters talked into two-way radios. A mall-hired cameraman videotaped the group's every move. The mall has said it is legally entitled to eject anyone protesting on its property. In a statement, the mall owner said its policies do not allow "protests or demonstrations of any kind ... on mall property regardless of the topic" ...

The group is using malls for the protests because they are suburbia's public squares ...

Saturday's protests were triggered, organizers say, by the arrest in March of the elderly activist, Don Zirkel, who refused an order at the Smith Haven Mall to take off his shirt or leave. The mall says Zirkel was distributing pamphlets without permission. He was arrested by Suffolk police, but criminal charges were later dismissed ...

http://www.newsday.com/community/news/northshoresuffolk/huntington/ny-limall0629,0,2475820.story

[mnhtnbb]

1. In the spring 2003, I was meeting with a group of Deaniacs, planning

the first house party for Dean in Chapel Hill, NC. We were meeting at a local mall.
By sheer coincidence, a group of anti-war folks had planned to do a walk about (with anti-war shirts)
at the same time we were there. They were also being followed by mall security. We spoke
to one of them and when he found out we were Dean supporters, he sat down at the table (in the food court)to talk. Security people surrounded our table and demanded to know what we were doing.
We told them we were planning a party. What kind of party, they asked, We told them, a fundraiser
for Howard Dean. We were then told we had to leave the premises. Several of us had bought food, were sipping drinks, and I had done some shopping and had bags beside me. Didn't matter that we were customers--we were in violation of mall policy and escorted out the door.

I swore I wouldn't go back to that mall for a long time--and I didn't. One of the members of our group--a medical student at Duke University--wrote a LTTE which was published--saying that her grandfather hadn't fought in WWII against the Nazis and fascists so that she could be denied
her rights to peacefully plan a party at a community gathering spot.

[struggle4progress]

2. Which mall? I live in Durham

[mnhtnbb]

3. Southpoint. We were in the Food Court.

It was a convenient meeting spot; we had come together through a meet-up (remember those?) and rather than meeting at a person's house, we decided the mall would be better as a central location.

[struggle4progress]

5. Thanks for the info. I may need to plan my attire carefully if I ever go there again

:D

[lonestarnot]

4. The shirts read "4,000+ troops, 1 million Iraqis dead. Enough!"

That's all they said? Verbage re the occupation? Shit, I thought maybe they looked like this: