OWS protesters charged with felony for mic-checking SD mayor

[niyad]

OWS Protesters Charged With Felony For Mic-Checking Mayor


A few days ago, members of Occupy San Diego cleverly mic-checked Mayor Jerry Sanders during his State of the City address.

Now mic-checking, while intentionally disruptive, is an completely peaceful tactic that has been employed in a wide-variety of settings during the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The CEO of Wells Fargo, representatives of JP Morgan Chase, Newt Gingrich, and even President Obama have been targets of this practice. But not even President Obama responded with as much aggression and ignorance as the San Diego police officers in attendance (with full blessing of the Mayor).

Not content to simply escort the OWS protesters out of the venue, at least three were arrested and charged with felony conspiracy for their actions.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/ows-protesters-charged-with-felony-for-mic-checking-mayor.html#ixzz1jMHpr05j


(the mayor's office in SD just claimed to know absolutely NOTHING about it)

[hlthe2b]

1. I hope ACLU is on the case... n/t

[Old and In the Way]

2. Is this the same guy who used to be head of AMD?

I haven't heard much about the AMD CEO in a number of years...I'm wondering if he went into politics.

[niyad]

6. don't know anything about this person, except that he is an idiot. will have to look up his bio

[Old and In the Way]

14. NO, it is 2 different guys.

Should have taken the time to look it up on Wikipedia...

[SlimJimmy]

3. I understand that the practive is disruptive, but I don't see where any laws were broken.

I watched the video and it looks like they were disrupting, but that is a fairly common occurrence at these types of events. Escort them out and be done with it.

[The Genealogist]

4. Felony Conspiracy?

I'm sure the action was disruptive and drew attention, which is part of what the mic check is meant to do. But felony conspiracy? Please!

[gratuitous]

19. Bringing back the bad old days of the Chicago 7

Ah, memories!

[Gold Metal Flake]

5. Charged them with a felony.

What frightened, frightened little men these fascists are.

[niyad]

7. and how frightening their reactions

[Gold Metal Flake]

11. Fear + power = evil.

[sabrina 1]

8. So now the 1st Amendment is a felony conspiracy?

Good luck to them trying to get a conviction on the people using the 1st Amendment to speak to a public official.

What a jerk, I hope all these mayors lose their next elections. This movement has certainly exposed them for what they are.

[brooklynite]

17. "Occupy"ers have First Amendment Rights...This isn't one of them...

No objection to complaining about the level of the charges, but interfering with someone else's rights isn't a way to protect The First Amendment, or to build support for one's cause.

[sabrina 1]

18. Sorry, they are interfering

with their elected officials. Not other ordinary people. They are protesting policy to those who make policy. Politicians have no special protection from the people's use of the 1st Amendment. This is in no way a felony. A minor misdemeanor at most.

We would be in a bad way if interrupting your elected official for a few minutes of the time we pay for and rarely get, is a felony offense. It simply is not. This country take the 1st Amendment very seriously, still. And if they get a conviction, I will be amazed, but if they do it should to all the way to the SC.

Sorry, if you want to be a public servant and the people want to talk to you, you can't claim 'felony'. Leave the job if you're that thin-skinned. But there is no felony here. It is laughable.

[oldhippie]

20. Well said! nt

nt

[brooklynite]

22. But that wasn't the purpose and you know it...

The purpose wasn't to pass along a message of concerns to the elected official; it was to prevent the elected official from giving a message to the audience, and to give their own.

[sabrina 1]

26. Every time I have seen a public figure mic checked it was to deliver a message to them.

That is what OWS is all about. Letting the people be heard over the money that has way more influence over our elected officials.

If you read H2OMan's story today, he cannot get anyone on either side of the aisle in his district or state to agree to meet with him and other concerned citizens. So, he is going on a hunger strike to try to get their attention. OWS goes to public meetings to do the same thing. And there is no way this is a felony, I sure hope not.

It is not politicians who need protection, it is the people and there would be no OWS if they had been doing their jobs.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

27. You should let people know that you self-identify as a 1%-er when discussing OWS

In the interest of fairness.

[brooklynite]

28. And is the Mayor of San Diego?

I believe in EVERYONE's right to speak without interruption; as soon as I deny that to my opponents, I have no right to complain when they deny it to me.

[Fumesucker]

29. I have a female relative who is utterly impossible to never interrupt since she never stops talking.

If you want to speak you have to interrupt her, at which point she becomes irate because you had the temerity to interrupt.

A lot of politicians are like that, in love with the sound of their own voices and if you want to talk you'll have to interrupt.

I've long since given up trying to have a conversation with my relative and resigned myself to hearing a never ending monologue.

[PETRUS]

30. I understand your point.

You may or may not be right about whether such tactics will build support, I don't feel I can predict. In the short run, they often don't (look at civil rights era polling about lunch counter sit-ins, etc.).

On the other hand, it's not difficult to understand that certain segments of society have much more access than others and certain points of view are given public platforms much more frequently than others. The protestors probably feel they've "been denied the right to speak" in any meaningful ways anyhow. Civil disobedience - which is what we're discussing - calls attention to such imbalances of power along with getting whatever specific message out. Yes, those actions are sometimes illegal (although felony charges seem ridiculous here) and yes, some will find them annoying.

[cthulu2016]

9. Serious question... Is conspiracy to comit a misdemeanor a felony?

[dembotoz]

10. felony shit if you are going to get a felony make it worthwhile

just saying

[lunatica]

12. This one promises some interesting trials

I can definitely see the felony conspiracy argument and the Constitutional right to free speech in public places clashing in this one. All the way to the Supreme Court.

[Robb]

13. Confirmation?

[FiveGoodMen]

15. Isn't it a crime to deny someone their civil rights?

[Fire Walk With Me]

16. There is this, but I read that it is not considered to be very powerful.

TITLE 42 > CHAPTER 21 > SUBCHAPTER I > § 1983

§ 1983. Civil action for deprivation of rights

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.

[SantorumAnalFrothyMX]

21. Wow! Felony mic checking? Conspiracy to do what?

Give them enough rope and..........what's taking the PTB so long to get to the part where they hang themselves? K&R

[Nye Bevan]

23. Never heard of "mic checking", so I Googled it,

and it seems that it's essentially heckling. So heckling is a felony now?

[TheKentuckian]

24. Off the charts of stupid.

These idiots had best come to grips with OWS, if they destroy it what replaces it will not be as much to their likings and messy for everyone.

Hamfisted, myopic, and minds of wheels but empty of actual thought.

[joshcryer]

25. Only was I see a judge prosecuting this is if they're a con.

Otherwise I think it'll be thrown out, this is hardly "felony conspiracy."

[niyad]

31. this is SD--lots of cons on the courts