Sheila Buck of Tulsa, Oklahoma decided to go to the Trump rally today. Like other attendees, she had a ticket. Unlike other attendees, she was wearing a mask and a t-shirt that said "I can't breathe." She was there not to celebrate Trump, but to protest. Peacefully. She wore her shirt, she wore her mask and she sat on the ground, fairly far away from everyone else.

And she was arrested. Literally dragged away and cuffed, while doing nothing wrong. When she asked why she was being arrested, police told her she was "trespassing."

There is video, and it is horrifying.

Buck was doing nothing wrong, was doing nothing illegal. She was attending a Trump rally while, very likely (though we can't be sure), not liking Donald Trump that much. She was wearing a shirt that said "I Can't Breathe," with what appeared to be a rendering of Derek Chauvin's knee on George Floyd's neck. That is not illegal. She has a right to protest and, as long as she bought a ticket, she had just as much right to be there as anyone.

It's rather interesting the way cops are so very eager to protect Trumpists from the mere existence of protesters. Or journalists! Last weekend, cops forced a journalist to leave a rally held by a bunch of cafone Christopher Columbus statue defenders — many of whom were armed. Like, they were armed with actual guns and the reporter was armed with a camera and the one with the camera was the one who had to go.

That, too, was pretty horrifying.

Philadelphia Police Threaten Unicorn Riot Reporter After Vigilante Assault [raw]youtu.be

What? Was the journalist in this case wearing a Free Mumia shirt or something?

I would say "Oh boy, where are the freeze peach advocates who are always crying about Twitter censorship?" but I know exactly where they are. Either at that same Trump rally, or somewhere else having no idea about the fact that the First Amendment actually means that the government can't censor speech.

Looks like we're gonna need to clarify some things! Like, who is it, exactly, that has free speech?

Are we now going with the right-wing definition of free speech, which is that people can be arrested for protesting and barred from doing journalism, but no one can say that racist people are racist, the left isn't allowed to boycott anything and social media isn't allowed to have any moderation? Is that's how it works now? Just like, everything is geared so that Republicans never have to feel uncomfortable about the fact that they are assholes?

Are cops allowed to arrest people for wearing clothes they don't like now? Or clothes that might upset the people they do like? Is this a fashion thing? Are they literally the fashion police now? Like, if a cop likes me, will that cop arrest whoever it is that is responsible for cold shoulder tops still being a thing?

I have many questions, and if we are going to live in a civilized society, cops are going to have to be clear about what the rules are, regarding what we can and cannot wear, which groups and people are exempt from protest, etc. etc. It's only fair.

[Tulsa World]

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