Reposted from Daily Kos, which was written by Jeff himself.
Jeff Seemann (nearly) arrested at Bush protest!
Key word - nearly.
OK, so here's my report from the Bush protest in downtown Canton today. A short set of pictures can be found at my website -
http://www.jeff04.com/bushprotest.htmBush was scheduled to speak at The Palace Theater at 145pm, so we began to assemble about 6 blocks away around 1130. At our peak, there were over 200 of us (not counting the hundreds of others assembling on the opposite side of the theater), shouting our heads off for John Kerry.
Horns honked, thumbs went up from passing motorists, and EVERYBODY'S spirits were high. Man, this was ENERGY at it's finest.
We had a DJ playing tunes while we cheered for John Kerry to take back America. Then, about 120, we began our march towards the Palace.
Security had lined up public buses to block all sight of the theater from the south. There was even a tent for Bush's limo to pull up into, so he wouldn't be able to see the protesters as he scampered into the building. But we were there, and we were loud.
We were especially loud because I had brought my bullhorn and was using it. After about 5 minutes of us being near the theater, a police officer waded into the crowd and demanded to see my permit to use the bullhorn. I said that I was part of a rally organized by the local Democrats, and to ask them for the permit. Again, he demanded the permit, this time holding my wrist down so I couldn't put the horn back to my mouth.
I refused to surrender it and he waved to his fellow officers. Four more officers came into the crowd and it was at this point that I knew it was not going to end peacefully if I held on to the bullhorn any longer. One officer promised me he'd return it after the rally. To my left was a very good friend, and she had a look in her eyes. That look told me "it's about the message. You'll lose the message if the newspaper says you were arrested." So I allowed them to take it.
Having been surrounded by Kerry supporters who witnessed the whole thing, they began to chant "shame! shame! shame!"
We continued our loud chants, and of course, by this time I didn't need a bullhorn to be heard. I was fired UP, and we let the noise fly!
Word immediately got out that I had been arrested. When I left the crowded area, my party chairman for Stark County breathed a sigh of relief. He had heard the rumor and was glad to see it was untrue. Mary Francis (who works for Kerry) hugged me, happy to see I wasn't wearing handcuffs.
But we made our point. NO city has been hit harder by Bush's economic destruction than Canton Ohio, and we were NOT going to let him skate through our city without opposition.
When my daughter asks me "what did you do to stop Bush and take back America", I will tell her about this day. I will always remember October 22nd, for two reasons. One is because of what we did today, and two...because it's my daughter's 6th birthday. Happy Birthday, Charlotte. My present to you is that I'm giving you a better place to live.
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