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Protest at Rep. Gus Bilirakis Military Recruitment Fair
Aug. 2008, East Lake HS, Tarpon Springs, FL
 YouTube Video of the protest

Bay News 9 coverage (watch)

More photos 


Tampa Bay Peace Community Scores!

Words of appreciation are pouring in to 5 Years Of War.com for pulling together folks from across Tampa Bay to come together as one for peace.  The second annual Military Day and Veterans' Resources Fair hosted by U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis at East Lake High School in Tarpon Springs on Aug. 9 was the scene of several major successes for the Tampa Bay peace community.

GREAT MEDIA COVERAGE:  Did you catch the news - we grabbed the headline on the Bay News 9 report

EXCELLENT INTERVIEWS: Dwight Lawton and Linda Hubner of Veterans for Peace provided the viewers with excellent perspective - it is not often that the peace community gets this much airtime!

MAJOR SUCCESS:  We were told by Bilirakis' event coordinator just three days before the Fair that they were bringing in a Florida Army National Guard rescue helicopter and an Armored Humvee.  We did NOT see those at the Fair!  Gee - could it be that we shamed them into leaving them back at their military installations where they belong???  Did they not want to be asked how much the taxpayers were paying to gas up those big behemoths so Bilirakis could use them to promote his re-election campaign???

SHOCKING:  Bilirakis had gun dealers there on the school grounds selling weapons and letting kids play with them.  Anita Stewart from Code Pink took this photo of a teenager aiming a high-powered rifle at some young kids at the gun-dealer's display.

And we had a "spy" from our side collecting recruiting materials.  So contrary to the Bilirakis event coordinator’s statement, there was
 
SPEAKING OF VETERANS - Anita and Debra Kay – both USAF veterans - were told they were not welcome at this VETERAN'S event by a Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputy because they were part of “that group” – pointing to the protesters across the street. 

Debra asked for a copy of the guidance that defines which veterans were welcome and which veterans were not welcome.  When he said he could not produce this, she asked to speak to his supervisor.  He radioed for help, which came in the form of two young men from the Bilirakis team.

Anita kept her video camera running during all of these conversations.  Finally it was decided that these two veterans could be on the property as long as they were not protesting.  NOTE:  Debra was wearing her “I Support Iraq Veterans Against the War” T-shirt and was made up to look like an IED blast victim.  Anita had her CODE PINK button on - so they really did protest inside the event, although they carried no signs. TOUCHDOWN!  Check out more photos of this event from Anita.

MORE SHOCK AND AWE:  Late in the day, faced with our some of our protesters who were willing to disobey their orders to keep off the public school property in order to practice their FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS – you know, that free speech thing in the U.S. Constitution -  the Pinellas County Sheriffs Dept. brought in an armored riot control tank and positioned it near the parking lot of the school in front of our protest area.  Were they thinking we were going to storm the school or what?  How much do you think that cost the taxpayers???
 
ARE YOU OUTRAGED YET?  Can you spell C-O-L-U-M-B-I-N-E ??? The law states that if a child so much as displays a plastic pirate sword during a Halloween party on school grounds that he or she gets expelled, but they can set up weapons displays and invite gun dealers to have booths where children can point weapons at each other at our public schools?

And they can tell taxpaying citizens and veterans who served their country honorably that they are not welcome at an event open to the public on property paid for by your tax dollars?  And they bring in an armored tank to enforce all of this???

REACT NOW!  Put your outrage into words NOW and send them as a Letter to the Editor of one of these newspapers: the Tampa Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times.  To get published – please reference the date, location and official name of this event:   “The second annual Military Day and Veterans' Resources Fair hosted by U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis at East Lake High School in Tarpon Springs on Aug. 9.”   DO NOT SEND THE SAME LETTER TO BOTH – this will get your letter deleted.

To express your outrage on other blogs and media outlets, please make sure to send a different letter, not the exact same one that you sent to the newspaper, to increase your chances of getting published in the mainstream.  We really need the general public to be aware of what was really going on out there!  Just a little trick we got from Debra Kay, who teaches media relations.

CONGRATULATIONS, SIGN MAKERS!  The television coverage that we received and the reaction of the Pinellas County Sheriffs Dept. and Bilirakis’ event organizers to our presence can largely be attributed to the huge, hand-painted, clearly worded signs made for this event. Powerful visuals like these make all the difference in the world to the success of a public protest.

LESSONS LEARNED:  Most likely the gun dealers had a booth there because they were paying for the resources at the Fair so that Bilirakis can say it was not funded by the taxpayers.  This is standard operations at military airshows.  More to follow. 

NEXT YEAR:  Debra Kay is asking us to think about a “Silent T-Shirt Protest” inside the auditorium during the festivities at this Fair.  Wear your protest on your T-shirt, then cover it with another shirt or jacket until you are inside the auditorium.  Then take off the outer layer to shout the message that is on your shirt.  What are they going to do to prevent this – strip searches?


THANKS EVERYONE - WE SCORED A BIG ONE FOR PEACE TODAY!
that kicked off the coverage of this event - “Protesters line street leading to veterans fair” - no doubt a major disappointment to the Bilirakis team, who were seriously overshadowed by our presence in this report, which was the only coverage of this event in the mainstream media. And the only photo used for this report online was one of our protest signs! military recruiting going on there!
Protest Gus Bilirakis military recruitment fair - Rise Up Tampa Bay, St. Pete for Peace, Military Recruitment Protest, Tarpon Springs, FL, Aug 9, 2008

Protest Gus Bilirakis military recruitment fair - Rise Up Tampa Bay, St. Pete for Peace, Military Recruitment Protest, Tarpon Springs, FL, Aug 9, 2008

Protest Gus Bilirakis military recruitment fair - Rise Up Tampa Bay, St. Pete for Peace, Military Recruitment Protest, Tarpon Springs, FL, Aug 9, 2008

Protest Gus Bilirakis military recruitment fair - Rise Up Tampa Bay, St. Pete for Peace, Military Recruitment Protest, Tarpon Springs, FL, Aug 9, 2008

Protest Gus Bilirakis military recruitment fair - Rise Up Tampa Bay, St. Pete for Peace, Military Recruitment Protest, Tarpon Springs, FL, Aug 9, 2008

Protest Gus Bilirakis military recruitment fair - Rise Up Tampa Bay, St. Pete for Peace, Military Recruitment Protest, Tarpon Springs, FL, Aug 9, 2008

Protest Gus Bilirakis military recruitment fair - Rise Up Tampa Bay, St. Pete for Peace, Military Recruitment Protest, Tarpon Springs, FL, Aug 9, 2008

Protest Gus Bilirakis military recruitment fair - Rise Up Tampa Bay, St. Pete for Peace, Military Recruitment Protest, Tarpon Springs, FL, Aug 9, 2008

Protest Gus Bilirakis military recruitment fair - Rise Up Tampa Bay, St. Pete for Peace, Military Recruitment Protest, Tarpon Springs, FL, Aug 9, 2008

Protest Gus Bilirakis military recruitment fair - Rise Up Tampa Bay, St. Pete for Peace, Military Recruitment Protest, Tarpon Springs, FL, Aug 9, 2008

Protest Gus Bilirakis military recruitment fair - Rise Up Tampa Bay, St. Pete for Peace, Military Recruitment Protest, Tarpon Springs, FL, Aug 9, 2008

Protest Gus Bilirakis military recruitment fair - Rise Up Tampa Bay, St. Pete for Peace, Military Recruitment Protest, Tarpon Springs, FL, Aug 9, 2008

Protest Gus Bilirakis military recruitment fair - Rise Up Tampa Bay, St. Pete for Peace, Military Recruitment Protest, Tarpon Springs, FL, Aug 9, 2008
Photos: Bob and Marianne



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