Man Arrested for wearing Peace shirt. America getting more depressing to live in.

Seriously, though, this does not surprise me at all.

Crossgates Mall! I grew up about five miles away from it. The security guards there are the biggest fucking fascists in NY. This only confirms it... Heh, and I used to grumble when they threw out me and my best friend for teenage situationist punk rock pranks...

Christ, that's unbelievable, but I believe it.

"Peace". Yeah, what a terrible thing to advocate.

kate, did you yell at them from passing cars?

I should say, 'judges' -- if it gets that far.

There's not much else to Albany but architecture, but oh, the architecture is lovely!

And at the time, hstencil, there were a couple of punque roque nightclubs (288 and the QE2, may their souls rest in pieces) that we were forever trying to invagle our underage asses into. MUCH more interesting than shopping malls...

I grew up in Slingerlands - we wanted to make bumper stickers saying "I Helped Stamp Out The Karner Blue Butterfly" and put them on all the cars in the lot. But unfortunately, as teenage situationists, we didn't have that kind of money.

after reading this story, I feel better about my fellow Capitol Districtionians. I like Styvesant Plaza despite it being hard to freakin pull into from Central Ave. they had a nice soap shop. I bought John Coltrane's Giant Steps in the music store there when I was about 16 and I felt very sophisticated for doing it. that was a good groc too, but pricey. Why are all the good foods pricey!

I keep reading this as Colonic

America, land of the strange.

Does that mean the next time I go to a mall I can get the security guys to bust people wearing anything I find to be offensive or distasteful? Talk about fashion cops!
;^}

That would rule, I could complain about people wearing hipster jeans with way too much bumcrack showing. And Kappa tracksuits. Ugh.

i couldn't find any old threads, so here goes: last spring, nancy and i were at the olympia mall just killing time waiting for the connecting bus. i had gone outside to smoke when a few moments later nance comes out, nearly in tears, saying she had been shouted at and harassed by a bunch of hooligans. i ask her if she just wants to leave or if she wants to go back in and complain. she says she doesn't know, so i - being the big masculine lunkhead i am - storm back into the mall to find the security guard or somesuch. while looking, we pass the crew who harassed her (who - in a brave act of showmanship - slunk into the restroom alcove when they saw us coming), and when we had passed them and were "out of earshot" started mumbling things at us again. except we werent. so at this point i'm about to lose it and i storm over and begin to interrogate these little fuckers who of course tell me that i better get lost or they're going to kick my ass, etc. eventually the volume of our little confrontation rises, prompting the attention of one of the mall "staff" (you know, one of those weasly little courtesy guys...he looked like tracey ulman when she used to do the gay steward), who - after we explained the situation - promptly told us that we should both "leave before there's any trouble." naturally indignant, we argue this as he lets the hoodlums slink away, until he calls over the actual "security guards" who inform us to do the same. we do so, but not, of course, befor getting this weasley fuckers name and getting his ass fired.

seems fairly obv, but some of us have to learn it the hard way i guess

it's kinda dumb to say there has to be 'danger.'

security guard 1: hey, dave, think we should go see about those kids walking around with bazookas?

security guard 2: no, it's not like they're pointing them at anyone and we don't even know for sure that they're loaded. wait for the danger.

haha i misread this as 'kids walking around with bazoukis'

"all units to the kookie kiosk, repeat ALL UNITS!"

Haha, I think this is just the case of different shopping mall culture in our backgrounds, and maybe I should just leave it at that.

Today many students staged walk outs. Good for them. Who gives a shit if administrators threatened suspension? They should speak out for what they believe.

I have a huge "NO WAR IN IRAQ" poster in my classroom and have received no repsonse (despite our state-champion ROTC) other than "What *has* Iraq done to us?" My answer? "Nothing."

But no one has ever stopped me and friends from walking into one of the "No Access / Employees only!" doors that bring you into the hallways behind the mall. We use these to get onto the roof of the mall to get a good view of the city. I think we've done this since 9/11 too. Just act like you belong in the hallways and any guards/employees won't even give you a second glance.

"Pffft, anal AGAIN? We had fisters and goatfuckers last week; RAISE THE BAR."

"That's positively serene after the girl with the tub whose out there last week..."

City forces local man to take down anti-war sign
By Kristin Knipschild

The 26-foot banner declaring "NO BUSH WARS" came down Tuesday after the building's owner was forced to end its 56-day run due to threats of fines from the city of Madison.

A gatherer yelled, "Goodbye First Amendment!" as the banner crashed down toward the sidewalk.

Tom Link, who owns Bellevue Apartments, 29 E. Wilson St., thinks the City of Madison has inappropriately stepped in. According to Link, the city is punishing the wrong man.

"They sued me, claiming it violates the health and public's safety," he said. "Obviously what George Bush is proposing is a threat to public health and safety, not only to our troops, but to the whole world."

Charles Sweet, a friend of Link who attended the press conference, didn't think the city had a good reason to demand the sign's removal.

"I don't see what harm it's done. It hasn't hurt anybody," he said.

He bluntly added what the rest of the gatherers understood. "I guess the only reason it's coming down is the content," he said.

However, Building Inspection Unit Director Linda Grubb told the Wisconsin State Journal in January that the banner had to come down because it violated a zoning ordinance prohibiting banners larger than 32 square feet and hung higher than 15 feet above the ground.

"It's not the message on the banner," Grubb told the State Journal. "This is a pretty charged issue ... but we'll treat it the same as other violations."

The sign is a message directed toward George W. Bush.

"We're talking to George," Link said. "I don't know that he's hearing us, but it seems like there's a wave going around the world now of people just saying 'no, we cannot do this, this is not the way to solve problems.'"

Now that the sign is down, Link hopes to find a new home for it so the message can still get out.

"It has to find a new home," he said.

Link comes from a family history of protesting in Madison.

"My mother was a peace activist in town here and the park on State Street is named after her."

According to Link, this was the first real involved form of protesting that he has done. He said he plans to participate more, in hopes of stopping Bush.

: //

Yeah, it's Madison.

Dan's point is a good one, as far as antiwar tactics go. Too much talk of principle here and not enough of tactics.

Okay, don't wanna argue about this, 'cause we all can agree that the guy could've easily rectified the situation with a code-compliant sign.

March 6, 2003
Charges Dropped Against Man Wearing Peace T-Shirt
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 6:27 a.m. ET

GUILDERLAND, N.Y. (AP) -- Officials at a mall where a man was arrested for refusing to remove an anti-war T-shirt asked Wednesday that trespassing charges against him be dropped.

Police said managers from Crossgates Mall called and asked that the complaint against Stephen Downs be withdrawn. Police Chief James Murley said he would support the mall's decision.

Earlier Wednesday, about 100 anti-war demonstrators marched through the mall to protest the arrest. They told a mall manager they would stop only when charges against the shopper were dropped and when the mall outlined its policy.

``We just want to know what the policy is and why it's being randomly enforced,'' said Erin O'Brien, an organizer of the noontime rally. ``It's only the people in the recent months who have anti-war or peace T-shirts that are being asked to leave the mall.''

A mall spokeswoman did not return repeated calls for comment.

Downs' son, Roger, said dropping the charge would not rectify the arrest. ``My father feels there's more to this. Crossgates hasn't examined what was wrong here,'' he said. ``I think he'd like an apology.''

He said his father would wait to see how the mall handles the case before deciding whether to sue.

Stephen Downs, 61, and his son were stopped Monday by mall security guards and asked to remove their shirts that read ``Peace on Earth'' and ``Give Peace a Chance,'' or leave. Roger Downs, 31, took off his shirt. But his father, a lawyer with the state Commission on Judicial Conduct and a former Peace Corps volunteer, refused.

The guards called police, and he was charged with trespassing and pleaded innocent.

Tim Kelley, director of Operations for Pyramid Mall management, the mall's owner, said in a statement that Downs' behavior and clothing was disruptive to other shoppers.

The men had had the T-shirts made at a mall store and wore them while they shopped.

http://www.greeninformation.com/PRUNYARD.htm