T-Shirt Protestors: Charges Dropped.

[LadyTevar]

From WV DailyMail:

T-shirt charges dropped
Toby Coleman
Daily Mail staff
Thursday July 15, 2004

The City of Charleston today dropped controversial trespassing charges against a married couple who wore anti-Bush T-shirts to President Bush's Fourth of July appearance in Charleston.

"It reaffirms my belief in my Constitutional rights, and it certainly is heartening that these were upheld," said Jeff Rank, a 28-year-old Texas man who was arrested with his 30-year-old wife, Nicole, for wearing shirts reading "Love America, Hate Bush" to Bush's speech at the state Capitol.

The arrest drew protest from the American Civil Liberties Union, labor unions and others who saw it as a violation of the Ranks' First Amendment rights. Two people came to the Ranks' hearing today in Municipal Court clad in anti-Bush T-shirts.

The hearing didn't last long. Soon after court opened for business at 7:30 a.m., assistant City Attorney Dolores Martin dismissed the charges against the Ranks because city code does not cover trespassing on Statehouse grounds.

"If the chief of police and Mayor Danny Jones could take this one back, they would," said Harvey Peyton, the Ranks' lawyer.

The Ranks were among an estimated 6,000 people who attended Bush's ticketed July 4 speech at the State Capitol.

Although they support Democrat John Kerry's presidential campaign and oppose Bush's policies, "we wanted an opportunity to hear him out," Jeff Rank said.

Since it was billed as an official Presidential appearance and not a campaign stop, the White House tried to keep people from bringing political paraphernalia into the event.

"As a general rule, when the White House does an official event for the president, we don't allow any political signage in," said White House spokesman Taylor Gross. "That's either for or against."

People still managed to slip campaign buttons and political t-shirts into the event. The Ranks, for instance, wore shirts over their anti-Bush T-shirts when they came through the Secret Service's security check.

Police let some who brought political items in stay for the speech, including two children who wore anti-Bush shirts to the speech.

Others, however, were asked by White House officials to cover up or leave, including six people sporting items supporting the president's re-election bid, Gross said.

The Ranks said they were approached by an event staff member while waiting for the president to speak.

Jeff Rank said the staff told them to cover their anti-Bush T-shirts or leave.

"We said, ‘No, it's our right,' " Rank said.

They said the staff then called police. When they refused to comply with the staff's demands, they were handcuffed, escorted out of the event and ticketed for trespassing.

"We certainly did not expect to be arrested for exercising our freedom of speech," said Jeff Rank, who is currently unemployed but plans to go to law school soon.

After their arrest, Nicole Rank, 30, was removed from her Federal Emergency Management Agency flood cleanup job. The Ranks started to return home to Corpus Christi, Texas, but decided to stay in Charleston and fight the charge.

After the city dropped the trespassing tickets against them, the Ranks said they were happy and ready to begin their trip home to Texas.

[DPDarkPrimus]

What, no apology?

[Exmoor Cat]

Also, is a Statehouse public property?

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Also, is a Statehouse public property?

It's the property of the State, which means, yes, it is public, but owned by the State Government, not the National Government. So charges brought there are under State and not Federal law.

[LadyTevar]

The WV Capitol is "Property of the People of the State of West Virginia". There's a plaque somewhere that states that....

Anyway, yes, it's public property, anyone can picnic on the grounds, explore the architechture, speak to the office workers, feed the squirrels (or watch the squirrels feed the redtailed hawk), and sit in on the Legislative meetings. It's even open on Sundays for the public to walk the hallways, although the offices are closed.
Saturday nights, the local Vampire Larp meets and plays right where Bush was speaking.

So, when *Charleston City Police* arrested the couple, the officers were outside their jurisdiction. The Capitol is not considered Charleston, sorta like the Vatican isn't Rome.