Journalist and protesters arrested over weekend; Other protest shut down

September 15, 2009 @ 5:39PM

Journalist and protesters arrested over weekend; Other protest shut down

By Carlos Miller -...

Photo by Mickey Lamm/WTSB Radio

If this past weekend was any indicator, it proves that police are intolerant of peaceful demonstrators, no matter what side of the political spectrum they fall on.

On Saturday, police arrested a group of antiwar protesters in Philadelphia for Criminal Conspiracy and Failure To Disperse.

And on Friday, police shut down a “Patriots Day Tea Party” in North Carolina because they were demonstrating without a permit, even though they initially were told they didn’t need a permit.

Police also arrested a journalist during the Philadelphia incident, who was not even part of the group but taking pictures as police were making arrests.

The arrested journalist was Cheryl Biren, managing editor for the liberal site OpEd News.

The North Carolina protesters had applied for a permit in July but were told they didn’t need one. But days before the event, that all changed and they were told they needed a permit, but by then, it was too late to apply.

In July, Stemler appeared before the Smithfield Town Council and informed the Board of her intentions. On July 14, Stemler filed a Temporary Use Permit Application with Smithfield Planning Director Paul Embler, but was reportedly told by Embler the permit application was not needed. Days before the event, Stemler said she learned from Embler a permit was in fact needed but it was too late to receive Council approval.

Now the town of Smithfield is up in arms over the incident.

Smithfield Town Manager Eric Williams tells WTSB he would like to see changes made after police shut down a peaceful 9-11 Patriots Day Rally on the steps of the Johnston County Courthouse Friday afternoon. Williams also voiced his displeasure with a comment made by a Smithfield police officer on Monday who stated, “Those tea baggers, they got what was coming.” Williams said, “It is not a comment that makes me very happy.”

Read all about it on the WTSB radio station. You may have to scroll down to find the stories because it doesn’t allow you to link to the individual articles.

Comments

Anonymous

2 years ago

The link given doesn’t take me to a news page, just their news-free home site, HTH. Couldn’t find the story on the state or national news pages, either.

It just goes to show you, though: when a gov’t person gives you their solemn word of honor, that’s a cue to get it in writing.

Anonymous

2 years ago

Was Embler uninformed or did he set the protesters up?

I wonder what candidates he sent money to this last election cycle?

Anonymous

2 years ago

i’ve never really understood the whole “needing a permit” thing for peacefully assembling. That’s not what the constitution says at all.

Just so you can have your name on a list of “miscreants who demonstrated/protested”

lame.

Anonymous

2 years ago

That website sucks. Click the “local news” link on the top of the left column for the articles.

Anonymous

2 years ago

And on Friday, police shut down a “Patriots Day Tea Party” in North Carolina because they were demonstrating without a permit, even though they initially were told they didn’t need a permit.

Since when do you need a permit to express your right to peaceful assembly?

Anonymous

2 years ago

this must have happen right after i left,,, I was there,photographing the rally for my own blog, wow, I miss all the fun

Anonymous

2 years ago

“Those tea baggers, they got what was coming.”

Really? Nobody caught this? lol

Anonymous

2 years ago

Idaho and Texas are following Arizona in training their uniformed highwaymen to draw blood from suspected drunks.

Call this what it is: rape.

Don’t try that on my or my family, officer friendly. I will defend myself, and them, from your violent crime, with extreme prejudice. And if I fail to stop you, I will hunt you down, like a rabid dog, and ensure that you never rape again.

I say again: Forced blood theft by LEOs is rape. This matter is a definitive line-in-the-sand. No free person with an ounce of dignity would ever comply or submit to such an abuse as long as they were humanly able to resist, nor would any honorable person ever criticize anyone who fights back against such abuse. This needs to be stated loudly and clearly by every good person in America: “You attempt to rape me or anyone in my family at your own risk.”

Anonymous

2 years ago

This link has more details than the one in the story:

http://johnston.mync.com/site/johnston/news|Sports|Lifestyles/story/41744/police-interrupt-tea-party

Apparently the problem was that the initial application said that there would be no sound system needed. The Planning Director (Embler) said that no permit was needed on that set of facts. Then apparently the Tea Bagger organizer changed her mind and decided that she did want to use a sound system after all. And apparently that does require a permit.

So to blame it all on the govt guy is just a tad unfair I think. The organizer should have filled out the paperwork correctly in the first place, and then she would have gotten the correct answer.

Anonymous

2 years ago

It is you who is uninformed, as you might know by reading from a reliable news source Stemler told Embler that she was not going to use a PA… therefor not requiring a permit. Gov. officials are not mind-readers and do not know when someone is going to change their mind. Hence your statement is an assumption, just like so many other busy-body wisecracks made in the past