Raw Video; Disabled Obama Protestor Arrested At Alaska State Fair

I thought this was a pretty much clear cut case of an attack on the first ammendment can someone fill me in if I am wrong

www.liveleak.com...

It depends on whether or not the Alaska State Fairgrounds are public property. If those grounds are private property and he refused to leave than his first amendment rights were not violated.
His attitude was confrontational and belligerent so I'm not feeling a whole lot of sympathy for him.

Originally posted by NoArmsJames
It depends on whether or not the Alaska State Fairgrounds are public property.

And if you bothered to watched the video in the first 10 seconds the man being confronted not only confirmed it was public space but a handful of people said he was right.

And so WHAT if he was belligerent? Is someone, regardless of political affiliation, suppose to sit down when their rights are being violated? Just take it as it is and not do anything?

No wonder the state is able to get away with so much.

reply to post by SpectreDC


Right. But that doesn't answer the question. People tend to agree with the most vocal person. Which is this guy.

It might not be public grounds and hes just claiming it is. Nevermind. THose are just state troopers with minimal equipment. This probably is public property.

[edit on 4-9-2010 by Miraj]

Originally posted by Miraj
reply to post by SpectreDC

 

Right. But that doesn't answer the question. People tend to agree with the most vocal person. Which is this guy.

It might not be public grounds and hes just claiming it is. Nevermind. THose are just state troopers with minimal equipment. This probably is public property.

[edit on 4-9-2010 by Miraj]

I assumed such merely from the fact that it's called "Alaska STATE Fairgrounds".

I mean it's no guarantee, but if you see the word state in somethings name, it's usually public domain. State collages, universities, parks, etc.

Now I can't wait for the typical drove of neo-cons to come in here claiming I'm a typical far left radical big government obama humper but I'll take the initiative that I don't know or really care what the guy is ranting about and I likely wouldn't support it if I did know. But the fact is, it's public domain. It's free speech. And considering the amount of harm our 1st amendment rights have sustained over the years you would think even conservatives would be against what happened here.

This could have been a tea party member in Vermont guys. And I GUARANTEE YOU if that member behaved EXACTLY the same way as this man did, the people on the right wouldn't give a damn and support him regardless.

So I just want to take this time to give thanks to the fine people of ATS; supposedly a forum of people who are informed and denying ignorance, even here we keep to stupid left-right paradigm rhetoric and dogma.

Originally posted by SpectreDC

Originally posted by NoArmsJames
It depends on whether or not the Alaska State Fairgrounds are public property.

And if you bothered to watched the video in the first 10 seconds the man being confronted not only confirmed it was public space but a handful of people said he was right.

Watch your attitude with me. I watched the whole thing. Just because he says it's public property doesn't make it so.

Originally posted by SpectreDC
And so WHAT if he was belligerent? Is someone, regardless of political affiliation, suppose to sit down when their rights are being violated? Just take it as it is and not do anything?

No wonder the state is able to get away with so much.

His belligerence is what got him treated the way he was; not his political affiliations. He could have stood up for his rights without being an ass about it. Remember the sit-down protests at lunch counters during the civil rights movement?

[edit on 9/4/2010 by NoArmsJames]

[edit on 9/4/2010 by NoArmsJames]

Did he have a permit to protest? a lot of places require u have a permit so proper security can be assigned so it doesn't turn into a riot where innocent people may get hurt. As a side note i think portraying Obama as Hitler should be considered hate mongering and should be treated as a hate crime. he is the president of the united states elected by the people and deserves a little more respect than that like him or not.

reply to post by fianna


I don't don't know whether or not these are public grounds but there are two points that I would like to make regarding this video.

First, the title implies that the protestor is "disabled" and unless they are referring to some sort of mental disability, I see nothing to support their assertion. The crutch seen in the video is attached to the protestor's "impeach Obama" sign to aid him in supporting it's weight and has nothing to do with any physical disability. Just watch him wrap his legs around the security officer.

Second, President Obama has absolutely nothing to do with what happened here, other than the fact that his name was featured in the protestor's sign. Funny how some in the crowd react as though Obama himself ordered the arrest.

The entire crowd should have just pummeled them! Then there is nothing they could have done! This is what change is!

I didn't see this man do anything that warranted his arrest until the security officers laid hands on him. If he had been blocking a walkway (which he obviously wasn't) or hindering the normal operations of a place of business I might agree that he should have been treated the way he was. This man was just exercising his constitutional right to free speech. The content of his sign had nothing to do with that. Just because he feels that Obama and Hitler have something in common is no reason to charge him with any crime.

reply to post by soontide


i totally agree with your thoughts here and this is what prompted me to post this video. he was charged with assault 4, i am unaware of how he can be charged with assault when they are the ones attacking him.

go OBAMA.

Since no one seems to be doing any independent digging of this I figured I'd provide you all with some information from the Alaska State Fair:

Because the fairgrounds is on private property, we reserve the right to remove someone from the premises who is creating a disruption or may pose a threat to the safety of others.

I'd also encourage you to read the Wasilla paper 'The Frontiersman' on the incident in a report here and an op-ed here.

KTUU out of Anchorage also had an article here.

A later press release from the state fair can be found here.

The Alaska State Fair, a nonprofit corporation, has explained from the beginning that the fairgrounds are private property, and that it has the right to regulate conduct across the property including solicitation, advertising, display of signs, materials distribution or other related activities. That policy is detailed in the Vendor Handbook which is available for review on the Fair’s website. Anyone refusing to comply with the Fair’s policy is asked to leave the property, and Phipps says the incident on Thursday fell within this policy.

I'm not going to take a giant pro-Obama sign to your front lawn and start yelling at passersby with a handgun in my pocket and expect anything less than what Mr. Hill recieved. You shouldn't either.

really so if you post a sign that says i reserve the right to take away your first amendment i can do that well then i say sir you are a traitor.

and having a gun is the second amendment so i think you need to rethink which country you should be living in. or no thats why you voted for obama blah thats retarded.

oh and that cop was a fat ass and should have been arrested and fired. fatty copper jump on a tread mill.

Originally posted by fianna
really so if you post a sign that says i reserve the right to take away your first amendment i can do that well then i say sir you are a traitor.

The first amendment prevents the government from censoring or silencing you. It does not protect you from private entities on private property.