W.Va. City Apologizes to Protesters

[Rose Siding]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Charleston City Council apologized Monday to two protesters who were arrested for wearing anti-Bush T-shirts to the president's July 4 rally at the West Virginia Capitol.

Nicole and Jeff Rank, of Corpus Christi, Texas, were removed from the event in restraints after revealing T-shirts with President Bush's name crossed out on the front and the words "Love America, Hate Bush" on the back.

Trespassing charges were dismissed last week. On Monday, the city council adopted a resolution to apologize.

"If Nicole and Jeff Rank did nothing other than peaceably exercise their right of free speech and expression as guaranteed by our Constitutions, they should not have been arrested or charged with a crime," the resolution states.

"The City does hereby apologize to Nicole and Jeff Rank."

There was no official count for the vote, but it appeared to have bipartisan support.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-bus...

FYI, Huntington is the only city in WV listed at the ACLU as having passed a resolution in response to the Patriot Act.

http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=1411...

[TiredTexan]

1. This reminds me of

a small child apologizing for stealing a cookie while he holds another behind his back.

I'll believe it when they stop preventing people from coming into the speeches. Otherwise, it's just words.

[UpInArms]

2. so where is the resolution that states that their city

will forbid such actions in the future?

Have they filed a notice that they won't abide by the Constitution-crushing USA PATRIOT Act?

[Rose Siding]

8. As a matter of fact, they have

Here's a copy of the text
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=1411...

snip>
99.01 PREAMBLE.

The people have inalienable rights that exceed the needs of the City of Huntington and are granted through the individual’s ability to reason, right to be free, to question the governors of the City of Huntington and to act as sovereign have, by declaration, rights recognized by Council as the basis of American Democracy and our chosen way of life. The essence of American Freedom is founded upon individual liberties, not granted by government, but retained by the sovereign. And therefore, the following actions affect the City of Huntington, Council, Mayor and its subordinate agencies, boards, and committees.

[UpInArms]

12. thanks for the link party_line

it also contained this language:

99.02 THE RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH.
The people shall have the right to express their opinion and the City of Huntington shall not attempt to regulate content of speech. The City of Huntington, Council, Mayor and its subordinate agencies, boards, and committees may regulate time, place and manner of speech, but not content.

So why in the world did they arrest these people?

Pretty words - not so pretty actions.

[Bandit]

21. may regulate time, place and manner of speech, but not content

What the hell does this mean? May regulate manner of speech. IOW if they don't like your t-shirt they can regulate it because of the manner of speech or the burning of a flag or anything for that matter. This is in effect a loss of our basic freedom. Time and place also. They can tell you that you can only speak your mind at 3:00 AM on the top of the mountain anywhere else is vorbotten.

[theHandpuppet]

28. HUNTINGTON, not Charleston!!

Jeeze, folks, they are two separate cities!

[Rose Siding]

29. Got it

You're right, they are. And it's not "folks". It's just me. I confused the two. Sorry.

[Philostopher]

17. Am I missing something?

Huntington passed the resolution with language against the PATRIOT Act, but Charleston is where the arrests took place. What does one have to do with the other -- they're many miles apart. Huntington is a somewhat more liberal town, it's a high-unemployment rust-belt city, and the home of a fair-sized university (Marshall? I think it's Marshall University), but it's not all that close to Charleston and isn't where protestors were arrested. It's a good sign for Huntington, but not all that surprising, and kind of irrelevant in reference to a story about Charleston, isn't it? Or did Charleston pass something similar?

[Rose Siding]

19. No, I'm missing something

I read the piece carelessly. Sorry for the confusion.

I'm glad the *Charleston* council apologized but they don't have a res on record.

[Philostopher]

20. Sorry - wasn't trying to sound combative.

I was still on my first cup of coffee when I typed that -- I thought maybe I was having trouble working through the sludge in my brain or something!

Huntington is one of those old Ohio River towns that boomed because of the steel industry. Now, its primary industry is the university.

I'm sure they aren't entirely thrilled with the current wave of outsourcing, since the first one, back in the Reagan Era, hit so many of those towns along the Ohio so hard (Portsmouth looked like a ghost town, the last time I was there, all minimum-wage service jobs, rusty pickup trucks and for sale signs). Not only that, but I wouldn't be surprised if many Republicans there weren't thrilled with the thought that USA-PATRIOT might come and take their guns. The Democrats who live there who like their guns too wouldn't like that, either, but they'd already have hit the 'frog jumps out of the pot' point with something else about it or Bush*.

[Rose Siding]

23. Oh, I appreciate the correction

You didn't sound combative.

I love WV but it's a sad place. I was born in the SW part of the state and, politics aside (if that's even possible anymore), have found some of the kindest, most hospitable people in the world there.

[theHandpuppet]

30. Yeah, tell me about Portsmouth, Ohio

Moore should make a documentary about THAT city -- its an American tragedy. In its heyday it was a thriving city of over 50,000 folks with good manufacturing jobs... steel mill, major railroad hub, shoe factory, et al. All gone now to cheap overseas labor. Town is down to some 20,000 people trying to get by working at fast food joints and gas stations. Houses falling down because folks don't have the money to keep them up, many others condemned or deserted. Young folks leave as soon as they're legal, and sometimes before they're legal. Life expectancy has plummeted and there is little hope that things will ever get better.

Yeah, maybe Kerry ought to catch the bus along the Ohio River towns from Marietta to Manchester if he wants to see an America that could use a good measure of hope and real jobs. Appalachian Ohio, proportionately, went for Gore more than any other region in Ohio. Maybe its time to remind these folks why they should bother to vote and continue to support a Dem Party which has delivered nothing to them in the past but an IOU of empty promises.

[lil-petunia]

22. You are mixing the acts of the council with police actions

no city or state is as uniform or cohesive as we are led to believe.
Just because one group makes the right move, does not mean that doesn't exist a group of thugs ready to stomp on the constitution with both feet.

[Rose Siding]

24. No, lil-petunia, I mixed it up

One res was in Huntington, the arrest was in Charleston.

You're right that a council and a pd could be at odds, but the res I wrote about (in the post now-now responded to) was from another town.

[lil-petunia]

26. oops, ok.

sorry.

Heck, people are different in all parts of the country. what I mean is, there might even be an honest politician residing in Chicago. Hard to believe, but it is possible.

[magidon]

3. Does this mean anything?

City councils can pass any resolutions they wish. That doesn't mean they're binding in any fashion. The City Council never ordered these two arrested in the first place.

Where's the apology from the police?!?!

[LiberalFighter]

6. Fire the damn worthless gestapo police

[gatlingforme]

10. The police act in a discretionary manner regarding this BS,

more that likely the chief or sheriff is a Republican as well as the S/A. it's a political thing and the cops get caught in the middle.

[merh]

25. Sue the */f'u campaign for violating their civil rights.

The campaign is a separate legal entity, it does not have the government protection (immunity/sovereign immunity) afforded to * and/or the city or police.

I'd sue the hell out of the campaign (which has bunches of money) -- hope the ACLU figures this out and does just that!

[Jeebo]

4. Does this mean Nicole gets her job back?

And does it mean that the next time Bush visits that same city, the police will NOT arrest people wearing T-shirts critical of him?

Ron

[derby378]

27. She'll have to take it up with FEMA

Somehow, that doesn't look too promising...

[gratuitous]

5. We'll say anything you want!

Horse, long gone. Gate? Closed, barred and padlocked. You want us to put another padlock on it? Done.

Of course, the event is long over and the protest, small as it was, has lost any chance of being made. But they'll be much more careful. "Next time."

[wtmusic]

7. CC would have lost their case

but they did the right thing

[arwalden]

9. My Reply Would Be... "Apology NOT Accepted"

and "see you in court".

-- Allen

[indepat]

11. What is sad is the arresting officers and all of their ilk do/did not know

or care that those arrested were only exercising their First Amendment rights: In their eyes good Muricans don't protest either the man or his seemingly illegal actions.

[prolesunited]

13. Well, if you don't support Bush

You're obviously a terrorist.

[Ripley]

15. These types of actions and sentiments seem to be exploding...

The vitriolic letters to the Editor in my paper are unbelievable. And just the other day a woman wrote to the paper, that this was not acceptable in America. In so many words, she said people have a right to not like her opinion about Bush, but the Constitution allows her to voice her opinion.

These Gestapo like tactics will only backfire on them, but I hope no one gets seriously hurt in the meantime...

[bloom]

31. I've noticed more anti-liberal

liberals are hypocrits, etc. letters in the local paper I read, recently, also.

I wonder what's up?

Is Rush going into overtime or something?

[indepat]

16. And that means you likely will be designated an enemy combatant

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

14. WE're so sorry! Please don't sue us! We're broke!

Tough SHIT!

[Rose Siding]

18. never mind

she said sheepishly.

(I had defended the Huntington council but this is in *Charleston*)