DIA, COLORADO- While we shuffled around the International Arrivals reception area trying to abide by the sign restrictions placed on our airport free speech permit, these children brazenly unfurled totally unvetted posters they'd prepared to welcome their daddy's return from Mexico.
Tag: Free Speech
DIA issues protest permit under court order, but limits crowd size to, wait for it, FOUR! Then court stays injunction.
DENVER, COLORADO- Abiding by the injunction in McDonnell v Denver, DIA administrators granted us a free speech permit within 24-hours on Thursday, but they insisted that the terminal location desired could only accommodate FOUR PEOPLE. You heard right. Four. There's irony here too because there were FIVE people named on the permit application! Thus the permit was actually 20% denied, and in reality 92% denied given that we sought a permit for 50 people, a number easily lower than the DIA International Arrivals area can handle. MEANWHILE, in the 10th Circuit Court, the city of Denver appealed the DIA injunction and asked for a stay. This is not usually granted in First Amendment cases, but on Thursday it was. The 10th Circuit stayed the injunction and wants to hear arguments on March 17. So at DIA for now we're back to the impermissive permit process that precludes accomodating public expression at the Denver airport. And the signing of President Trump's new improved Muslim Ban looms... 49451
Colo. US District Court judge enjoins DIA to limit restriction of free speech (grants our preliminary injunction!)
DENVER, COLORADO- If your civil liberties have ever been violated by a cop, over your objections, only to have the officer say "See you in court", this victory is for YOU! On January 29 we were threatened with arrest for protesting the "Muslim Ban" at Denver International Airport. We argued that our conduct was protected speech and that they were violating our rights. They dismissed our complaints with, in essense: "That's for a court to decide." And today IT HAS! On Feb 15 we summoned the cops to federal court and this morning, Feb 22, US District Court Judge William Martinez granted our preliminary injunction, severely triming DIA's protest permit process. In a nutshell: no restrictions on signs, size of assemblies or their location within the main terminal (so long as the airport's function is not impeded). Permits are still required but with 24 hours advance notice, not seven days. Below is Judge Martinez' 46-page court order in full: 49404
How I nearly got arrested for holding a sign at Denver International Airport
DIA, COLORADO- Last weekend I joined thousands across the country protesting Trump's executive order restricting entry visas from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Spontaneous demonstrations had erupted at international airports nationwide on Saturday January 27. Denver's airport was no exception but the lively gathering of sign holders was ultimately persuaded by police to leave the premises. Supposedly a permit was required to hold signs. Demonstrators the next day were quickly ushered outside, to rally instead between the terminal and adjacent lightrail station, where only a tiny fraction of travelers would see them. This much we knew as we monitored events online while we reconnoitered DIA from the short-term parking garage. We made our way swiftly to the International Arrivals doors at the north end of the main terminal WITH OUR SIGNS. 48878
Denver jury finds camp protester NOT GUILTY of tent erection (obstruction).
DENVER, COLORADO- Andrian "Monk" Brown was observed on HALO camera "erecting a tent" on the spot he'd been arrested two days before inside a similar tent. He was arrested escaping the scene of the crime and or walking his dog around the block. This week Monk was tried for obstruction, the deputy city attorney prosecuted the case herself but was unable to overcome the jury's inclinations that the charges were "silly". Monk's defense attorney rested her case without presenting a thing. Essentially the closing argument was this: did a three-man tent obstruct anyone in a large public plaza? NOT GUILTY. 44915
Denver restricts public access to Lindsey-Flanigan Plaza, to circumvent federal injunction protecting protest.
DENVER, COLORADO- The 24hr protest in front of the Lindsey Flanigan Courthouse was on its 31st day when city workers installed signs declaring a curfew on the courthouse grounds. Will the ongoing demonstration be grandfathered or will Denver police evict the Occupy Denver activists without notice? Occupiers meet tonight at 7:00 to decide a course of action. The signage cites trespassing ordinance "D.R.M.C. 38-115" which would halt overnight occupations of the plaza. It cannot but seem to be calculated to restart arrests of the "Jury Nullification" activists, who won a court injunction to prevent the city from making further arrests.
Judge rules Denver Police harassment was not in contempt of injunction, but he doesn’t know the four fifths of it.
Eric Brandt sets speed record for First Amendment Jail-to-Freedom-Pipeline
DENVER, COLORADO- Eric Brandt got a surprise at the detention center courtroom on Friday. Then the magistrate who sentenced Eric for contempt of court got a surprise. 44559
Denver activists seek court injunction to stop jury nullification arrests
DENVER, COLORADO- Civil rights attorney David Lane will address Federal District Court on Monday seeking an injunction to stop the City of Denver from arresting activists distributing fliers to inform fellow citizens about the legal concept of Jury Nullification. UPDATE: An injunction hearing has been scheduled for 2PM FRIDAY, August 21, at the Araaj Federal Courthouse.
Police try to enforce vagrancy code to halt protest at Clinton Global Initiative
DENVER, COLORADO- It was day two of protesting the neoliberal agenda of the Clinton Global Initiative 2015 conference held at the Denver Sheraton. Activist had already had Secret Service warn them about jumping out in front of the motorcade and security guards claim the sidewalk was private property, when a Denver motorcycle cop threatened to issue tickets to any protester who didn't remain standing. Denver does have an unfortunate anti-vagrancy ordinance that forbids sitting on the sidewalk. Though activist were surrounded by ordinary people eating their lunch or catching some sun, this officer made it clear that he had the discretion to decide which activity was allowed and which wasn't. To quote David Anderson, who took the picture: "What a Joke!...One of Denver's finest? Lard ass cops tells Caryn and Brandi they cannot sit down on buckets while protesting. Notice! Fat ass cop gives out warnings from a SITTING position!"
Homeland Security gets in on the act, tells Occupy Denver noise complaint will trigger arrest
DENVER, COLORADO- Fresh on the heels of their courtroom victory, Denver police tell protesters at the weekly Tattered Cover picket: "We've received a complaint. Stop using the bullhorn or you will be arrested." This from the window of a Homeland Security vehicle! 42832
Did you know that if you disagree with someone’s free speech you can call the cops and say their voices disturb you?
IN DENVER YOU CAN! Denver police have been silencing picketers at the downtown Tattered Cover Bookstore by asserting that complaints give them the authority to curtail the Friday evening protests at will, even before the 10pm noise restriction. The DPD cite "time and place" restrictions to free speech, such as, you know: you can't shout "fire" in a crowded theater. Apparently they're worried that crying "Boycott the Tattered Cover" will cause a stampede. We hope so too, and in a PUBLIC SPACE, we have that right.
Protest isn’t a probation violation. Free Occupy political prisoner Caryn Sodaro
OCCUPY DENVER recidivist Caryn Sodaro was given 90 days this week for violating the terms of her probation, an earlier plea deal which relinquished first amendment rights in exchange for what turned out to be temporary freedom.
Target of Occupy Denver boycott expects DPD to roll protesters like they’re homeless sleepers
DENVER, COLORADO- Downtown eatery co-owner Jon Schlegel thought the homeless were defenseless when he led an effort to criminalize sleeping or seeking shelter out-of-doors last year. Instead Schlegel incurred the wrath of Occupy Denver, who've maintained a now seven-month long Boycott Snooze protest opposite his trendy restaurant. Yes it's personal, Schlegel opened SNOOZE in a depressed area adjacent to a homeless shelter, now he wants to gentrify his digs by running out the homeless. So every Sunday occupiers bring signs to sway potential customers from supporting Snooze's war on the homeless, and every Sunday Schlegel calls the police. But there have been no charges, officers remind Occupiers they are within their rights, yet Snoozegoers are treated to the illusion that the boycott's legality may be borderline. You know, it's that phony paradox promoted by our corporate media, that free speech means having to tolerate another's opinion however offensive. (When free speech offends you, you are likely the offender being protested.) The real question is how Denver Police justify juxtaposing their intimidating armed presence against a citizen's First Amendment rights.
City of Colorado Springs fails to completely outlaw Free Speech
Court forces Colorado Springs to delay trying to implement anti-Free Speech/ anti-Panhandling Ordinance
Mayor Bach and his Right Winger cohorts on the city council of Colorado Springs had their first taste of reality in their efforts to suppress all of us in our own rights to enjoy Free Speech in this city. See ACLU challenge forces delay- Colorado Springs backs off on enforcement timetable --- Also notice this recent case in Denver, Colorado where... 37863
Colorado Springs anti- panhandling ordinance set to become Mayor Bach’s expensive big flop and political fiasco
The creepy new Right Wing mayor of Colorado, Steve Bach, has gotten HIS anti-panhandling ordinance passed this week and it's set to become an expensive big flop that city tax payers will have to pay out with our monies, as the city attorneys try to defend municipal enforcement for a clearly illegal measure that will fail all the basic tests in the courtroom. Why is that? Short answer is simply that the new law violates all OUR remaining rights to hear free speech voiced in this country and this city of Colorado Springs. See Amid debate, Colorado Springs may join cities banning panhandling where the LA Times shows us how this form of anti free speech legislation has been faring in other spots across the US? 37768
Thank you, Soldiers, for defending our American Free Speech!
Thank you, Soldiers, for defending our Free Speech! You all military sweethearts are doing such a damn good job, too! Here is a you tube film of you USA soldiers going about your hard work protecting our American Free Speech rights. Love you, Storm Troopers and Snipers, Drone Mechanics, and Nuclear Weapons people! Love you DEARLY. Pacifist Kathy Kelly at Whiteman (funny the name, ay?) AFB.
Occupier vs The People, how they lie about ‘protecting Free Speech’ for us
Just the name Occupy Wall Street is an antiwar statement. The US military is an Occupier military against The People for the 1% Super Rich, and we are the exact opposite of such. We would Occupy the lands of the Rich and give to the Poor instead. The pro militarism people always say that they have 'served' to protect my 'Free Speech'. Does that occupier with the rifle look like he is protecting OUR 'Free Speech"? I doubt it. Remember Kent State and Jackson State!
Legalismo
This is a direct copy of the email i sent earlier today and then copied and pasted some before it dawned on me it would be much easier and more effective to post it here. Collins is a law professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His referenced comment appeared in the Colorado Springs Gazette on 18 Oct, after my arrest but before the paper got the news to rectify a time-frame misconception i tossed around earlier. The version of that story is dated 17 Oct, but the paper version came out the following morning. 28695
Opposing war is not a crime: stop FBI suppression of antiwar activists JAN 25
COLORADO SPRINGS - JANUARY 25 - Protest the recent FBI raids and the DOJ grand jury subpoenas aimed at intimidating members of antiwar and Palestinian rights groups. Join Coloradans For Peace and compatriots beneath the windows of the FBI field office, located in the Plaza of the Rockies downtown, the complex where activists have been prevented from visiting their senator's office, mostly a mall of investment bankers and brokerage firms. Not without irony, the main facade is named for war profiteer consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton. Come Tuesday Jan 25, from 4pm to 5pm. Meet on the NE corner of Tejon & Colorado. Some consider the FBI to be the lesser of the US intelligence community's seventeen known evils. Shall we draw the line at surveillance, infiltration and instigation of peace advocacy groups? Eric Holder's Department of Justice won't go after war criminals, torturers, or any facet of President Obama's accelerated abuses on human rights. But they want to target humanitarian groups in hopes of tying their social causes to "terrorism, " the traditional authoritarian label for political rival.
Ed has a go at the Hitler Bunker video
My but this is fun. Sweet Video.
“Obama planted a Computer Chip in my brain and we should shoot Americans”.
Why does this sound familiar?
Village President John Deschane, 60, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, said many people in town believe it's disrespectful to fly the flag upside down. 8176
The crime of removing reporters from the scene of police crimes
St. Paul's Democratic Party mayor, Chris Coleman, is going to get away with his crime of allowing police removal of reporters from the scenes of police criminality. Yes, that's exactly what he is doing by 'dropping the charges' against all reporters captured by the police at the Republican Party Convention, and this 'dropping the charges' routine seems to be the new 'In' way to violate American's Constitutional Rights. No charges for reporters arrested in GOP protests 4843