[wordup] 'Peace' T-shirt gets man arrested

[Adam Shand]

It appears that I didn't do enough research on this one, I put too much 
trust in CNN.  Thanks to Jos for pointing out the rest of the story.

However, to comment on the "fuller story":

Ejecting someone from private property is the right of the property 
owners.

There is no mention in the police reports as to how the dispute started. 
  It could have been anti-war protesters giving mall visitors a hard 
time, or it could have been fuckheads giving people with anti-war 
tshirts a heard time.

It appears that in this case it was the *people*, not the t-shirts, that 
were the problem.  Focusing attention on the shirts instead of the 
people was, at best, a stupid way to solve the problem.

There are interesting things to be said about how property ownership 
potentially restricts freedom of speech in exactly these kinds of ways.

Adam.

PS. For the record: I am *not*, and make no claims to be, either 
objective or a reporter.  I send out articles that interest me.  I try 
and send out the full scoop (as that's what actually interests me) but 
time, inclination and mood all effect what I send, how much research I 
do before sending it and whatever snarky comments I attach.  Just in 
case there was any confusion. :-)

PPS. Another nice proof of "Adam's Law" :-)

  http://www.spack.org/index.cgi/AdamsLaw

From: Jos Willard <jji_w at yahoo.com>

Adam,

You normally do a good job of sending out (mostly) complete stories on
Wordup.  You missed the boat on this one though.  The full story is as
follows:

A woman saw the two men engaged in "a dispute" with some other people
regarding the contents of their shirts.  She feared an incident, so
alerted mall authorities.  By the time they caught up with the two
guys, they were in the food court "sitting and eating," says Downs.
The reports can be found here:

   http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/crossgates1.html

There was a legitimate complaint that these two were causing a
disturbance, and that the disturbance was aggravated/started due to the
shirts they were wearing.  In an effort to prevent further
disturbances, the security guards requested (probably with less tact
than they could have) that the gentlemen remove the shirts or leave the
mall.  Either action would have removed the danger of further
disturbances, and both were reasonable requests in that situation.  Mr.
Downs, a lawyer, KNEW this, and yet he repeatedly refused to leave.

When the owner of private property (the mall) or their representatives
(security guards) requests that you leave and you don't, you are
TRESSPASSING - which is what Downs and his son were arrested for.  They
were NOT arrested for wearing the shirts.

I know you're farther Left than I am, but let's try to be at least
semi-objective in our reporting, shall we?

Jos