Posted on 08/20/2013 8:28:43 AM PDT by don-o
The Tea Party News Network reported yesterday that two protesters in St. Charles, Missouri, were arrested by the Missouri State Highway Patrol for refusing to vacate a public overpass when ordered to do so without any reason or demonstrable cause.
One of the two men arrested, Duane Weed, spoke with The Tea Party News Network about his protest and his arrest.
The group had assembled on the morning of Saturday, August 17th, to create awareness of the discontent felt by many Americans for the Obama Administration and the continuous string of scandals perpetrated by the executive branch.
“We felt that there were plenty of impeachable offenses and if any other president in the history of our country had committed even one of these [offenses], they would have been impeached,” Weed stated.
“We had done this before. We had done the same thing a few weeks back. I had seen videos on YouTube from various other places around the country where law enforcement has shown up to a protest and a lot of times run them off… In our particular case, we made an issue of it and said, ‘no, this is our First Amendment right.’ I questioned the highway patrolman, ‘What are the charges,’ you know, ‘What is your reasoning?’ And he couldn’t come up with any reason other than he kept saying ‘we’re requesting that you vacate the bridge.”
The highway patrol refused to cite any specific authority or statute that allowed them the right to break up the protest. Finally, after issuing several demands for the protesters to disperse, the highway patrol officers took Weed and another man, Mark M., into custody, claiming they were disobeying orders fro a police officer and resisting arrest.
The officers claimed that the protesters were causing accidents, however, Weed explained that St. Charles was having a big festival that weekend with the standard increase in traffic that is normal for such an event.
“The traffic was horrendous,” Weed noted. “But I’ve seen situations like that where they station one police officer down the road with their lights on to warn people to slow down, and they could have done that with one officer. Instead, they brought eight [cars] to come up on the bridge. As far as accidents were concerned, I was the first person to arrive there as far as protesters were concerned as when I arrived there, there was already an accident that had just occurred and we certainly couldn’t have been responsible for that accident because we weren’t there!”
After being confronted by the officers, Weed and others offered to move the protest to a different side of the street where there had been no accidents. “He wouldn’t accept that. They had come up there with eight cars and a huge show of force with the clear intention that they were going to clear this overpass.”
Weed and his fellow protester were booked and housed in the county jail overnight. Weed claimed they were treated professionally, but that the whole experience was uncomfortable. After 24 hours, the police let the protesters go without any charges having been officially filed.
The right to peaceably assemble is one of the most important rights for Americans. Protests alert the government and the citizens that something is wrong and the silence of peaceful protests by police or government agencies is a serious threat to our republic.
democrat party SS troops.
What if Oprah were standing on an overpass with a protest sign?
Sue the Stasi. Cops who are antiConstitutional thugs...who woulda thought???
Exactly. Remember who your first targets are if a revolution comes. The police are NOT your friends.
Then be on the overpass this coming Saturday.
She’d be arrested for obstructing traffic...........WIDE LOAD..............
Although it shouldn’t make any difference, the way protesters look DOES matter. A neatly dressed and groomed protester would have made a better impression on passersby than the guy (probably a great fellow) with a scraggly beard and super casual clothes. We want viewers to listen to us, identify with us, and, hopefully, agree with us. This ain’t Duck Dynasty.
Standard in California; anyone interacting with cars below on an overpass is told to move on, typically officers cite the person as being a distraction to traffic as their reasoning. Pretty sure a whole lot of Ron Paul supporters can give tips on this one...
The 80% bad apples making the 20% look bad in Law enforcement.
What if ZZTop were on the bridge....
This is how it starts. One man is arrested ILLEGALLY. Thrown in jail for NO REASON. Released with NO CHARGES.
NEXT time, it gets ramped up and somebody gets hurt. After that, all bets are off.
Released with no charges filed. The “distraction” argument is bogus. Animated billboards are real distractions. Legal distractions, though they are.
But, freedom to assemble and demand redress? Now THERE’S a distraction.
Do I need the /s?
You don't deserve freedom, if appearances matter that much to you.
/johnny
They should sue for false arrest and civil rights violations. Every officer should be charged with violation of constitutional rights under the color of law.
Words fail me to even respond to such inanity, save to call it for what it is.
Ten years ago I would have said all but impossible... now I say business as usual.
LLS
Wow. Just. WOW. So what you're saying is that conservatives are only made up of "neatly dressed and groomed" people? Wow. Just. WOW. Duck Dynasty guys have a lot more class and sense than some people.
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