[ShaolinSubz]

Mike Ferner | July 5 2006

Friday afternoon, drinking a cup of coffee while sitting in the Jesse Brown V.A. Medical Center on Chicago's south side, a Veterans Administration cop walked up to me and said, "Okay, you've had your 15 minutes, it's time to go."

"Huh?" I asked intelligently, not quite sure what he was talking about.

"You can't be in here protesting," Officer Adkins said, pointing to my Veterans For Peace shirt.

"Well, I'm not protesting, I'm having a cup of coffee," I returned, thinking that logic would convince Adkins to go back to his earlier duties of guarding against serious terrorists.

Flipping his badge open, he said, "No, not with that shirt. You're protesting and you have to go."

Beginning to get his drift, I said firmly, "Not before I finish my coffee."

He insisted that I leave, but still not quite believing my ears, I tried one more approach to reason.

"Hey, listen. I'm a veteran. This is a V.A. facility. I'm sitting here not talking to anybody, having a cup of coffee. I'm not protesting and you can't kick me out."

"You'll either go or we'll arrest you," Adkins threatened.

"Well, you'll just have to arrest me," I said, wondering what strange land I was now living in.

You know the rest. Handcuffed, led away to the facility's security office, past people with surprised looks on their faces, read my rights, searched, and written up.

The officer who did the formalities, Eric Ousley, was professional in his duties. When I asked him if he was a vet, it turned out he had been a hospital corpsman in the Navy. We exchanged a couple sea stories. He uncuffed me early. And he allowed as to how he would only charge me with disorderly conduct, letting me go on charges of criminal trespass and weapons possession -- a pocket knife -- which he said would have to be destroyed (something I rather doubt since it was a nifty Swiss Army knife with not only a bottle opener, but a tweezers and a toothpick).

After informing me I could either pay the $275 fine on the citation or appear in court, Ousley escorted me off the premises, warning me if I returned with "that shirt" on, I'd be arrested and booked into jail.

I'm sure I could go back to officers Adkins' and Ousleys' fiefdom with a shirt that said, "Nuke all the hajis," or "Show us your tits," or any number of truly obscene things and no one would care. Just so it's not "that shirt" again.

And just for the record? I'm not paying the fine. I'll see Adkins and Ousley and Dubya's Director of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, if he wants to show up, in United States District Court on the appointed date. And if there's a Chicago area attorney who'd like to take the case, I'd really like to sue them -- from Dubya on down. I have to believe that this whole country has not yet gone insane, just the government. This kind of behavior can't be tolerated. It must be challenged.

I was at the Jesse Brown V.A. Medical Center because I'm participating in the Voices for Creative Nonviolence's 30-day, 320-mile "Walk for Justice," from Springfield to North Chicago, Illinois, to reclaim funding for the common good and away from war.

Now all I need is a link to the FEMA concentration camp thread to drill home the message

[ShaolinSubz]

Oh shizzel, here it is...
Fema Comcentration Camps

[Eric O]

This story had some credibility up until here.

I'll see Adkins and Ousley and Dubya's Director of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, if he wants to show up, in United States District Court on the appointed date.

WASTELAND

[Stoic1]

Clearly a terrorist. A terrorist with a weapon.

If this was the UK they would have shot him several times in the head before they even identified themselves as police. He was lucky. And should count his blessings.

[kartaron]

By Mike Ferner

03/21/06 "ICH" -- -- "Sentenced to time served," were the welcome words pronounced by Senior Judge Stephen Milliken, of the District of Columbia's Superior Court, on March 28.

Ed Kinane, from Syracuse, and I stood before Milliken, charged with disrupting a Congressional Committee hearing the evening of March 8 when Ed silently held up a banner that read, "Stop the Killing," and I started reading the names of U.S. soldiers and Iraqis killed in the war.

In court we didn't contest our charges, but we winced when prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Ed, previously arrested at a School of the Americas protest, to six months in jail, suspended except for three days' probation, and an order barring him from the Capitol.

"Your Honor, I cannot stand by and watch these crimes continue. I must add my voice to the thousands of others crying out for an end to it until we awaken America's conscience,"

War protester. Previous conviction of protesting illegally. I wouldnt believe him for a second. Especially as a court case would get him publicity that would help his upcoming book release.

[norcal313]

It's on the internet it must be true.

[DrumnBass]

sheehan put him up to it...

[Traveller]

Originally Posted by Stoic1

Clearly a terrorist. A terrorist with a weapon.

If this was the UK they would have shot him several times in the head before they even identified themselves as police. He was lucky. And should count his blessings.

Hey man cut them some slack, dude was Brazilian. Those UK cops wouldn't have shot him if he was white. It's his own damn fault for being the same skin color as terrorists.

[Gregster]

A cop working for the VA interpreted and enforced VA rules in a way that is questionable...well now, guess I better pack my toothbrush and extra Old Spice for when I get hauled off to Camp X-Ray.

Why is it every damned time someone in some position of authority does something mildly questionable, people start screaming about how the US is now a police state, all our rights are gone, yadda yadda yadda, blah blah blah?

[icantstandit]

Originally Posted by Gregster

A cop working for the VA interpreted and enforced VA rules in a way that is questionable...well now, guess I better pack my toothbrush and extra Old Spice for when I get hauled off to Camp X-Ray.

Why is it every damned time someone in some position of authority does something mildly questionable, people start screaming about how the US is now a police state, all our rights are gone, yadda yadda yadda, blah blah blah?

It's not that we are becoming a police state. We are ALWAYS becoming a police state, and we are always fighting for our rights. And it is because we attempt to keep the govt in check that we hear about these things.

It's that slippery slope we are afraid of...

If people start taking off their shirts because they are politically ofensive, then all of the sudden it becomes illegal to wear political t-shirts, then it becomes illegal to protest on the street, then it becomes illegal to protest... and so on.


Pretty soon:

First the Nazis came…
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—
and there was no one left to speak out for me.