veteran arrested at v.a. for wearing veterans for peace shirt

Of course not. I would be just as outraged as you. But until I hear the guard's side of the story, I just doubt that was the case.

I don't think it's a 'fact' that he was arrested for wearing it. Again, one side of the story from someone with an agenda.

Oh, I agree. I just don't think he was there 'just for a cup of coffee'. From the sound of this quote from the article...

...it sounds like he was there for more than just the coffee.

 

he wasn't arrested for wearing a tee-shirt.

he was fined for refusing to leave when asked to do so.

Lots of civil liberty issues at play here...but let's not pretend this wasn't a protest and a reaction to that protest.

 

Well, he's willing to go to court which means he's ready to put his story up to scrutiny.

 

I think he's been pretty honest with his story.

He acknowledged why he was there...that he was asked to leave and refused...and that he was arrested for that. He's written it with a certain 'agenda' of course...but that's pretty much to be expected.

And being willing to have more publicity here....I can't imagine a protester who would want anything different.

 

Well, it's easy to make that grand proclamation on a blog. Good for dramatic effect. We'll have to wait and see if:

-he actually follows through or not
-what happens to the case if he does

 

THEY FOUGHT FOR OUR FREEDOM, SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!

...er, unless they do something that shows lack of support for us, you know, like...uh...wearing a t-shirt.

 

If someone is fasting for peace then shows up at the hospital would that also reason to be arrested for protesting?

Basically you can not express any sort of objection without being asked to leave. And if you don't leave you then are arrested.

This is crazy.

 

Nope...

but if he later wrote an article titled 'vet arrrested for not eating hot dogs' I don't think that would be accurate.

 

Why not? If any expression of an objection is protesting, he could be arrested for fasting while at the va.

 

Hey.... I haven't been defending the arrest!

I've been pointing out that it wasn't just the T-shirt here....it was the protest. So you're right, I suppose. If he set up his fast in the va centre he could be asked to leave. And if he chose arrest instead...i guess he could write another article.

I still don't know under what authority he was asked to leave. Like I said....lots and lots of civil liberty issues.

You OK with protests at vet centres?

 

Are you ok with any expression of an objection at vet centres?

What if this guy was already fasting before he came to the hospital to do hospice work etc? And he had a shirt with "peace" on it.

I have no problem at all with protesting there if it is truly peaceful, like praying for peace etc. But I wouldn't be cool with demonstrating there.

 

Obviously we're both speculating on what he was or wasn't doing. I'm guessing there's more to the story because it was part of an active campaign by a fairly well organized group.

Here's an article about Mr Ferners previous campaign. Somehow I'm thinking he was a little bit more conspicuous than an anonymous man sitting sipping a coffee. That's all that I'm saying.

For what it's worth, I think protests at VA centre's are 'tacky'- - as you say. But I don't think they should be banned. I'm also glad there are people out there like Mr Ferner willing to spend their time and energy on issues they feel are important.

But I'm standing by my original points:

This was a protest.

and...there's likely a lot more here than what's been stated in the article.

I'm guessing if a regular participant at the centre had shown up with the same t-shirt and gone about their business they would not have been asked to leave. Again...speculation...but, then maybe i just have a lot more faith in the reasonableness of everday citizens.

 

A one man protest in a VA coffee lounge? That's your story and you're sticking to it.