Is St. Augustine Police Department Planning Another Civil RIghts Violation at Memorial Day Peace Picketing? The Whole World Is Watching

I don't usually reprint E-mails, but here's one from Mary and Terry you will find intriguing. Sheriff Neal Perry was a bad actor and it looks like his daughter is another one. We'll be videotaping everything SAPD does on Memorial Day. If they want to violate the rights of octagenarians (and nonagenarians), these noodniks will be all over the world showing their true fascist colors. What's it going to be, City Manager/Mangler WILLIAM B. HARRISS? You don't have enough of a bad reputation yet?
Go ahead, make my day!
With kindest regards, I am,
Ed Slavin

Original message from 'Mary Lawrence' : --------------

We immediately made a sign that said: “Police say: You CANNOT honk for peace” and people responded.
My point in forwarding this: On Memorial day in the plaza, PPJ and Vets for Peace have plans for the big black wall of names of our war dead from Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the coffin with Arla’s husband’s flag and medals. If we cannot “POST” the wall, we may need help holding it. If we decide to stake it in the ground and the police try to get us to remove it, we need someone to videotape. Ideas?
- Mary

From: Solidarity And Peace.org [mailto:sjp@solidarityandpeace.org]
Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2008 5:59 PM
Subject: todsy's demonstration.

For those who weren't able to be there today the following report:

About an hour and a half into our protest, an SAPD SUV, heading north on Menendez, directly across from the plaza, turns on it's red&blue lights, makes a u-turn and blocks the entire inside southbound lane of menendez. Sgt Perry, daughter of former Sheriff Neil Perry then states that all of the signs in the ground are considered 'posted' A violation of city ordinance 3-23(d)(1). When I asked her why today, after all of these years, she replied that she they had just received a complaint today. I repeatedly stated that these signs had been like this for a long time and that there frequently other signs, including those for commercial purposes, 'posted,' and suggested selective enforcement. She then went into the 'just doing my job routine.' She also stated that they were going to ticket cars that 'honked for peace' since it is a violation of traffic laws to honk for any reason other than an emergency. At this time a couple of motorists honked and flashed peace signs as they passed.

Sandy asked that she not ticket them and Sgt. Perry replied: 'If I was down here I would ticket them.' I admit I do not understand all the intricacies of quantum mechanics and relativity, but I really wish someone could explain how a police sergeant who wasn't there was harrassing me.

There were no homeless in the plaza when I arrived this morning and there usually about a half dozen or more getting ready to leave before the tourists start showing up. Didn't really think much about it at the time. After the demo, i went down to the other end of the plaza and there were only 2 artists set up. Greg told me that the police had issued 13 citations, ($100.00 each) to the artists and that is why no one else was there.

I admit I'm paranoid, but I still think they are going to come after us now.

I was thinking, it's getting a little boring being in the same place all of the time. Mayor Boles office is outside the restricted zone and gets a lot of passing traffic - might be a good place to generate some new supporters, or maybe susan burke's office, or maybe...

In solidarity, justice and peace,

- Terry