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Six
Protesters Arrested At Baywalk
(Including three
teenagers, one aged 13)
Two St. Pete for Peace members
were being arrested without cause, when instead of just allowing this
injustice to happen, a small contingent of members chose to try to
prevent their arrest through nonviolent civil disobedience.
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Six people were arrested at Baywalk
on Saturday night, August 6th.
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A 13-year old boy was arrested for
being on the
PUBLIC sidewalk and “blocking pedestrian traffic.” The young man
was
not carrying a sign nor was he attempting to interfere with
anyone. He
was just going from one end of a public sidewalk to the other.
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Afterwards,
another protester was videotaping near where the 13-year old was
arrested. Police then arrested the second protester, who was
later charged with trespassing.
The remaining demonstrators made their way
down to the police van
holding the two
detainees. Some protesters
attempted to stop the van from driving those arrested down to the
police station by locking arms in front of it.
Four of the
protesters were then
arrested and charged with blocking a roadway and disobeying a lawful
command. The remaining protesters returned to Baywalk and
chanted, sang and shouted slogans at the police until after 11pm.
The juveniles were released a few hours after they were arrested.
The three adults were brought down to the police station and were
released on bail early the next morning.
The
cops want to intimidate and harass us. The cops’ use of
barricades is to force protesters onto Baywalk property where they can
proceed
to arrest us. They are set up in such a way so that people cannot
walk down the public sidewalk without either going out into the
street or
walking onto Baywalk property.
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Media
misrepresents
event
The
St. Petersburg Times ran an article that made it sound
like the night’s events were planned by the protesters.
 But
the Times ran a clarification on Aug. 16: "Articles
in Floridian on July 21 and City & State on Aug. 7 were unclear
about the strategy of the war protest group St. Pete for Peace.
Protester Chris Ernesto lamented that protest groups tend to get media
coverage only when they do something dramatic. But he did not say he
thought St. Pete for Peace members should break a window or tempt
arrest." (read) St. Pete for Peace appreciates the
Times willingness to set the record straight.
"Saturday
Night Live" - Wayne
Garcia, Weekly Planet, 8/17/05
"Arresting
Dissent" - Carol
Schiffler, Citizens for Legitimate Government, 8/8/05
"Despite arrests, protests to go on" - St. Pete Times, 8/8/05
"BayWalk disturbance results in arrests" - Bay News 9, 8/7/05
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Story
Background
Baywalk and the City of St.
Petersburg are trying to take away the rights of protesters to stand on
the PUBLIC sidewalk in front of Baywalk. Click
here to read the St. Pete Times story. Click here to watch Channel 10's
coverage. Click here to see a few photos of the
barricades.
| Our understanding
is that
Baywalk and the city of St. Petersburg are testing barricades on
weekends to see if they improve pedestrian safety. One
option being considered is the construction of permanent
barricades. If this were to happen we would not be allowed to
protest on the north
side of the sidewalk in front of Baywalk. In
addition to the
unsubstantiated claim that protesters cause a safety hazard, Baywalk
management says our protests are bad for business. |
"I
was assured that the protesters' right
to continue protesting was not being prevented by the barricades.
Now do they have as much freedom as they did before those went
up? Probably not."
St.
Petersburg Councilmember Richard Kriseman (read) |
According to Sembler
CEO Sher:
"Many patrons stay away from Baywalk because of
the congestion caused by the protesters." And Bruce Rabon, owner of
Hurricane Pass and Metropolitan Outfitters claimed, "when the protesters began, our Saturday
night business ceased to exist." Tom Silverberg, owner of
Jess Jewelers (one of the stores in which we protest near) recently
said: ".[the
protesters]..are abusing the privilege of free speech, [and] are
jeopardizing my freedom to run a small business."
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Mayor
Rick Baker
(727)
893-7201
mayor@stpete.org
City
Council
(727)
893-7117 council@stpete.org
St. Pete Times
http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Your letter can be as simple as one
sentence or as detailed as you choose. Please just let the city
know that you don't want Baywalk to gain control of the public sidewalk
and that it is time for the barricades to be removed.
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- If these barricades stay in
place, anyone needing to exit Baywalk quickly in an emergency situation
would face a tangle of metal gates that could prevent their safe
escape. This is ironic, particularly in the context of the
rationale for the barricades: public safety. This also adds
credence to our assessment that the true motivation behind the
barricades is Baywalk's desire to stop our protests on the public
sidewalk in front of the entertainment complex. Greg Sembler,
Vice Chairman of the Sembler Company (which owns Baywalk) has
essentially said so:
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"I
still think we need to own the sidewalk" - Greg Sembler (May
3, 2005) |
The City
of St. Petersburg has
implemented these barricades at the request of Baywalk management,
following a study done by a group called the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, Inc. The problem is that, on
the Executive Committee of this group is
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Craig Sher, President/CEO of the Sembler
Company. Obviously, this is a conflict of
interest. Not coincidentally, the group's long-term
recommendation is
to give Baywalk control of the public sidewalk. (SP Times Interview Mar
'05)
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No
public hearings, no discussion
-- they're just taking taxpayer property. Last year they tried to set up "no
protest zones." Earlier this
year they tried to buy the public sidewalk. Now, Baywalk and
the
city are reportedly planning on constructing permanent barriers and
saying protesters won't
be able to stand on the PUBLIC sidewalk!
The
reason given for these barricades?
Pedestrian safety.
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However,
we've
been demonstrating at Baywalk nearly every Saturday for 2 1/2 years and
there have been
ZERO
pedestrian accidents during our protests.
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Civil
liberties have been under attack in the U.S. for quite some time, and
our government has a long history of repressing the voice of dissent:
And many others around
the country are feeling
the wrath of our system:
Britain (U.S. ally) is
rounding up
Muslims and in Pakistan (U.S. ally) they are cracking down hard, as
well:
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Click
here to
watch Tampa
Bay's 10 coverage of recent protest. Click here for info about our free speech struggle
with Baywalk last year. Click here for
general info on our protests at Baywalk.
"Public protests
can be
inconvenient, annoying and noisy affairs. But our Constitution has
chosen the mess of freedom and democracy over the order that comes with
repression.
When
police address protesters in an aggressive manner and resort to
hypertechnical arrests for minor offenses, they are creating an
intimidating environment in an effort to discourage future
demonstrations. Our community's priorities are clear: It's commerce
over conversation at BayWalk, where our areas's most active and engaged
citizens are decidedly not welcome."
From
"Activists deserve praise, not harassment" by Robyn E.
Blumner, St. Petersburg Times, Aug. 21, 2005
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