16 Year Old Anti-War Protestor Arrested In Palm Harbor, FL
10/25/05
By Jay Shaft-Coalition For Free Thought In Media
Writer’s note: This article was written on Sunday 10/23, and would have been released nationally, but due to Hurricane Wilma I was busy covering the disaster and the following relief efforts. I am now releasing it to show the disparity between the St. Petersburg Times coverage and that of mine from the scene as an eyewitness.
Palm Harbor, FL (CFTM) Yesterday at approximately 4:00 pm deputies from the Pinellas County, FL sheriffs department arrested a 16-year-old boy who was engaged in a peaceful roadside demonstration.
The groups St. Pete for Peace, St Pete Food Not Bombs, and the Curlew Bloggers were having a street corner demonstration against the Iraq war and the Bush administration.
The teenager was standing on the side of the road holding a sign that said “F*ck Bush”. Because of his age, the department cannot release the teenager's name. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Marianne Pasha told the St. Petersburg Times the arrest stemmed from the disruption to traffic and the teen's refusal to move. When I contacted the department they refused to discuss the case or any of the issues of the arrest.
Deputies stated they were called to U.S. 19 and Curlew Road after a motorist called to complaint about the sign. "The complainant had to steer around (the teenager)," Pasha said. During the incident the deputies claimed to have over 25 complaints and admitted people were using 911 to report the sign and also complaining about the demonstration in general.
Teenager being led away by deputies. PHOTO-MARK DUFF
Deputies claim the 16-year-old antiwar demonstrator stood in the road and refused to move when asked. I was present and recorded the entire incident on audiotape and also viewed the video taken by Chris Ernesto, an organizer for St. Pete For Peace. At no time was the teenager in traffic of blocking the right of way in any way. Numerous bystanders and eyewitnesses not involved with the peace demonstration reported that he never entered the roadway during the incident.
Pasha told the Times that the teenager cursed deputies when they asked him to move out of traffic. According to the Times and a deputy on scene, he was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, breach of the peace and unlawful use of a state transportation facility – i.e., the road.
Corporal Atkins holding the sign for approximately two minutes while passers by screamed and yelled at him to put it down. All photos courtesy of Mark Duff
I was standing right next to the teenager and recorded the verbal discussion between him and the deputies. I have listened to the tape over 20 times, and at no time did he use any profanity or abusive words towards the deputies. On the tape you can clearly hear Corporal Atkins asking for the teenager’s identification, then making the statement “I was planning on arresting you anyway.”
He then said that he wasn’t going to arrest the teenager if he put down the sign, but after asking myself and Chris Ernesto to turn off our recording devices and getting a refusal, he went ahead with the arrest. A heated argument ensued between the teen’s mother and arresting deputies, but there were never any abusive or profane words exchanged between the teen and deputies.
Mark Donelly of Tarpon Springs, FL was parked at a nearby restaurant and witnessed the events leading up to the arrest. “I’m a Republican and I support George Bush to the end. That doesn’t matter because these protesters should have the right to be here no matter what I believe in,” he states. “I thought this was America, what the hell are they doing arresting a kid? I don’t agree with the protest but he didn’t do anything wrong. I never saw him go into the road, and I watched the whole thing for about ten minutes before the sheriffs got here. They just came up and arrested him because someone didn’t like his sign. That’s not what democracy is supposed to be about.”
After remaining on scene with the teen in the cruiser for over 30 minutes, deputies finally took him to the juvenile assessment center. He was released to his mother’s custody approximately an hour after the incident.
Chris Ernesto of St. Pete for Peace says the groups will return to the same corner to protest in the future. “They are not going to use something like this to keep us from doing what we have a right to do,” he said angrily. “This is a bunch of crap, they are just trying to keep us from having free speech where it might offend some Republicans. We’ll be back, and we’ll have our lawyers ready to enforce our rights to be here.”
When I called the sheriff's department today, 10/25, to discuss what I had recorded on tape and personally observed, they refused to talk to me about it. The claim there is an ongoing investigation and that there is no reason to have any doubt's about deputies reports and details of the incident.
Corporal Atkins threatening to arrest the teenager’s mother. PHOTO- MARK DUFF
Here is the St. Pete Times article:
Protester accused of disrupting traffic
http://sptimes.com/2005/10/23
Here is a personal account from the protester who was arrested: http://stpeteforpeace.org
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