Posted on 08/27/2012 7:47:21 AM PDT by jacknhoo
TAMPA -- A Republican National Convention protestor was arrested while he allegedly carried a machete strapped to his leg, according to deputies.
According to Hillsborough County Sheriff's officials, Jason T. Wilson, of Tallahassee, was arrested as he walked in the RNC Event Zone carrying a "full size" machete.
When deputies approached Wilson, they said he continued to walk away despite orders to stop.
"When deputies caught up to Wilson, he advised he did not have to stop and that he was allowed to carry whatever he wanted," HCSO spokesperson Larry McKinnon said.
When deputies attempted to physically stop him, Wilson allegedly began resisting arrest and was physically restrained.
Wilson was arrested and taken to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office on charges of prohibited items in event zone and resisting arrest with violence.
Confusion over Mitt Romney puppet
One deputy told a group of protestors carrying an oversized puppet of Mitt Romney the sticks they were using to hold up the puppet's arms were against the rules.
We captured exclusive video of that exchange.
Deputy: "I got to have the sticks." Protestor: "No, sir. We actually measured them exactly within the code." Deputy: "Okay, there's one of two options. I can take the sticks or people can go to jail. I don't want to do that."
A Tampa police captain took over, measured the sticks and determined that they were legal.
On the exchange between the deputy and protestor, Chief Castor said "there was just a little bit of confusion on it. Whether we should or shouldn't allow those in here and then the Captain made the decision. The right decision."
Community organizer Kelly Benjamin agreed with Chief Castor.
"We have the utmost respect for the police. They're just doing their jobs,” said Kelly Benjamin, FL Consumer Action Network. “It was a misunderstanding. I'm glad it was resolved. The puppet was well within the code, so there should be no problems."
Other protests carried out without incident
Meanwhile, other large protests were carried out without incident.
Two hundred protestors arrived at Gaslight Park in Downtown Tampa just after 12 p.m. After protesting in the park for a short time, police say the group split up, with approximately 100 protestors marching to the Bank of America building.
They entered the bank's front plaza and put stickers and were writing with chalk on the private property. Crowd management officers asked the demonstrators to leave the private property and they complied without incident.
The second group of approximately 100 protestors, marched through city streets toward the Tampa Bay Times Forum, where the convention will take place.
Bike officers rolled alongside the unplanned march closing cross streets to keep the protesters safe from traffic.
They marched to the public viewing area where they chanted and held a brief rally before loading onto buses to head to St. Petersburg for the opening event of the RNC.
loading onto buses ..........
Puppets carrying a puppet. How fitting.
Did they check for traces of accelerant, for when they were going to light it in effigy?
You know they would have done that is it were Evil BOOOOSH!
Sounds like somebody been doin’ some community organizin’!
He was just looking for the cane fields but took a wrong turn at Belle Glade.
Oh yes Mr. Wilson, sorry for the misunderstanding and inconvenience and thanks for setting us strait.
You and your machete can go now, oh and have a nice day.
Knives are banned at Tampa’s GOP convention, but guns are OK.
He was carrying a deadly weapon and resisted police.
He should have got the s*** beat out of him.
I see some serious LEO pussyfooting this early on. Not good.
How much did the protesters pay for the police escort? I know that it is not cheap to hire an officer for a funeral procession.
Can’t be. That Jason has a job.
A freak with a machete... nothing to see, move on to...
Lots of OTHER protesters were peaceful. See? here’s three examples right now, and more to follow. This is a very peaceful protest, and actually is sort of admirable. Wink wink.
American voters need to see this. Is this the kind of country they want to live in for another 4 years? Raving lunatics threatening the citizenry every time they want another free handout? If they vote for Oboma, this type of behavior is all they're going to get. This is what Oboma really meant by "change."
Read a story about a guy who got a masters degree In puppeteering and he was upset he couldn’t find a job to pay off his education bills.
Just couldn’t believe there wasn’t a larger call for his profession.
No surprise. The liberal ‘anarchists’ get more extreme with each event, and that jackwagon the the white house revels in it. I read this morning there are 2 FB pages named KillMittRomney, and FB corporate is leaving them up.
He’s sleeping in a tent down in Tampa, I’ll bet.
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