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Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Ind. Gov't. - On Dec. 31st, two protesters arrested at Howard County Courthouse
Here is the long story by Daniel Human of the Kokomo Tribune. Some quotes:
Kokomo — A dollar bill taped over a mouth led to the arrest of two protesters Friday at the Howard County Courthouse.Protesters Darren M. Burke, 38, and Greg Lambert, 52, both of Indianapolis, face misdemeanor preliminary charges after the incident.
Members of Occupy Kokomo and related movements around the state had been rallying outside the courthouse that morning with permission from the Howard County commissioners.
They walked into the building, where Sheriff Steve Rogers met them at the security check-in.
Lambert told the sheriff he and his companions planned to return Monday with signs, at which point both parties turned and walked away.
Protester David Fox called Rogers back to speak with him. A moment later, the sheriff noticed Burke, who had been using a computer tablet to film the entire rally that morning.
Behind the electronic device, the Occupier was wearing a dollar bill over his mouth, a biohazard sticker on his cheek and his sweatshirt’s hood was over his head.
Rogers decided Burke was violating a court order that prohibited masks in the courthouse.
“Take your mask off,” Rogers told Burke.
“I don’t have a mask on,” Burke responded.
“I don’t care. Take your mask off,” Rogers said.
The sheriff then grabbed at Burke’s face as the protester turned around and shouted “Get off me. I’m going outside.”
Rogers and deputies pushed Burke into a wall, at which point Lambert became involved in the fray. Occupiers said Lambert was trying to protect Burke’s tablet.
After tackling Burke to the ground, Rogers placed him in handcuffs and he was taken to the Howard County jail * * *
For Friday’s protest, Howard County Superior Court I Judge William Menges issued a court order that barred anyone from wearing a mask into the courthouse, Rogers said in his statement.
Commissioner Bill Thompson, who was in the building at the time of the incident Friday but said he did not see it, said the mask rule was like any other set in place in a courthouse.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with what you say or what you do,” Thompson said. “It doesn’t matter as long as you comply with the rules. It wasn’t the speech that they were confronting. It was a violation of the rules. All persons, not just Occupy, have to abide by the rules of the courthouse.”
Fox said after deputies arrested Burke and Lambert that the dollar bill on Burke’s mouth represented “silent protest.”
“If you want silent, then we’re silent,” Fox said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 3, 2012 07:07 PM
Posted to Indiana Government