“He has a right to speak”, said the cop to the banker

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Ten minutes later, the Daley City police arrive. Two motorcycle cops, one male, one female.

I calmly walk up to them as they are dismounting their bikes, keep about 10 ft of distance and smiling with both hands visible.

MB “Good afternoon officers. Are you here for me?”
Off1: “Why, what did you do? [hehe, trick question]”
MB: “Nothing, officers. I’m politely and calmly handing out flyers and talking to people. I’m not blocking the sidewalk or causing any disturbance.”
Off1: “Well, let’s see what’s going on, wait here.”
MB: “Yes officer, I will not leave, thank you.”

Both officers go into the bank to talk to BofABoss. They come out a few minutes later.

Off1: “They say you are trespassing. Did you go into the bank?”
MB: “No Sir, I did not enter the premises at any time. I have been walking along the sidewalk, not blocking traffic or their business and I have been handing out flyers. If you ask George here he will tell you that I’m not bothering anyone, he’s watched me for almost an hour.”

George nods, and says, “This guy, no problem.”

BofABoss comes out with a triumphant smirk. Officer1 turns to him:

“He has the right to speak and the right to hand out flyers. Unless he blocks you or causes a disturbance, he has the right to be here – please don’t call the police again if he is not bothering you. If you don’t like free speech you should move to another country.”

MY JAW IS ON THE FLOOR.

The banker turns bright red and storms back inside.

Off1: “Keep it peaceful, now. This is the way to protest, I have no problem with you as long as you don’t block.”
MB: “Yes officer! Thank you so much, have a nice day.”

For almost 90 minutes, I moved between the Chase and the BofA, handing out flyers. Inside, I saw the manager of the Chase [ChaseBoss], conferring with an employee. The employee turns around and shows me my own flyer, photocopied in with many other pages – they are building a FILE on me! I pretended to tremble in fear, which only pissed them off more. Like I’m gonna be scared of a photocopier. Guess what, I have a printer too …

I handed out 250 flyers, got laughs, nods, support, high-fives and plenty of perplexed looks, as people read my flyer.

As I left, I told George: “See you tomorrow George.”

This was so much fun, I will surely see George tomorrow …

Thu Nov 03, 2011 at 10:44 AM PT: NEW FLYER: Got some great feedback, so I updated the flyer. Larger font for seniors, specific accusations, better defense from libel charges, disclaimer. Released into public domain with permission.

Download PDF and PNG: http://www.mediafire.com/…

Thu Nov 03, 2011 at 11:12 AM PT: Started mothership diary to organize similar protests across the country. I need volunteers:

http://www.dailykos.com/…

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Comments

Vivian says:

November 3, 2011 at 3:04 pm

This is full of all sorts of wonderful that I can’t even form my feelings into words. Thank you, thank you and, again, thank you!

James Palmer says:

November 6, 2011 at 12:31 am

Please video this discretely somehow the next time you do it. I wish I could watch a video of what you describe here. It would be powerful.

Kevin Andrew Murphy says:

November 6, 2011 at 1:31 am

Excellent protest. Have twittered and facebooked this. Proud to know the author.