Police Presence at Eldersburg Demonstration Raises Concern
August 18th, 2007
Found on:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/26039
http://www.carrollcountyprogressives.com/
http://wibspeakout.blogspot.com/2007/08/wib-westminster-in-solidarity-with.html
Police presence at Eldersburg demonstration raises concern...
At approximately 11:45am today during our demonstration four (4) Maryland State Troopers and one (1) Carroll County Sheriff Deputy pulled up at the Exxon gas station at the corner of Rt. 26 & Rt. 32. As Carroll County Sheriff Deputy McMillen approached me standing on the corner, I was surrounded by the State Troopers. They informed me that the sign I was holding was causing motorists to break the law and that I should not have 'Honk' to Impeach on the sign. They were respectful upon first talking to me and then you could feel their tension grow as Trooper Tindell stated, "...you really should not have the work 'honk' on your signs." At that moment I requested to speak to the duty officer for the Carroll County Sheriff's Department. Deputy McMillen stated that he would arrive in about thirty minutes. After the posse of troopers started to back off, we were able to speak to Deputy McMillen regarding why they were there. He then received a statement from Duty Officer Sgt. VanLeuvan over the radio and we were instructed to listen to the communication. Sgt. Vanleuvan asked Deputy McMillen, "Are these people in violation of any laws?" McMillen's response, "No." Sgt. VanLeuvan responded, "That there is nothing we can do."
At that point, I head my sign high above my head to express my freedom of speech about the impeachment of Bush, Cheney and Gonzales. Trooper Tindell continued his discussion with us stating, "We can pull any of these drivers over for unnecessarily honking their horns."
It was now two minutes of noon and we decided to disband anyway. Upon further thought and discussion, I took this a step further and contacted MD State Trooper Corporal Williams at the Westminster State Police Barracks regarding the police involvement. After much difficulty with communicating my concern, I stated that I would stop by the barracks to speak to him directly.
Upon arrival at the Westminster State Police Barracks just after 2:00 PM, I was greeted by Corporal Williams as he was sitting at the desk. He stated, "Before you ask anything, you are in fact breaking the law." He read article 26-101(f) of the Maryland Vehicle Law which pertained to article 22-401(b) of the Maryland Vehicle Law. Therefore, I questioned why the Troopers did not inform me of this article, but instead drove off ignoring the article and not issuing a citation. As you may imagine, I was not given a reason, yet Corporal Williams stated, "...we have a year and a day to file a charge against you." I went on asking why I was not informed of this article on Thursday, August 16, 2007 when I contacted the barracks and spoke to Sgt. Brawning about the upcoming demonstration. Again, I was not provided a reason why I was not informed about a law that I was being threatened with. I asked for an e-mail address for Lt. Richardson as was not provided one, yet I did receive the general e-mail address of westminster@mdsp.org to send any further communication about this incident.
I then drove to the Carroll County Sheriff's Department in Westminster and was greeted by a young US Navy Veteran waiting to go on a ride-along with one of the deputies. We discussed how most of the soldiers hate the war and believe it is all about oil and that most of them cannot wait to get out of Iraq. I thanked him for his service to our country, regardless of the misguided actions he was forced to take while enlisted. He readily agreed and then we were greeted by Sgt. VanLeuvan. I introduced myself and briefly recapped what transpired in Eldersburg earlier that day. I informed him that we were in fact breaking the law, and that I was informed of the article by Corporal Williams of the Maryland State Police. My opinion of his reaction was shock, as he did not seem familiar with the article at all. He went and retrieved the same Maryland Vehicle Law book and looked up the article that I mentioned. He read the entire article to me, something that MSP Corporal Williams refused to do. I then asked for a photocopy of the article so that I may share the information with the Carroll County Progressives to ensure that we did not continue to break that law in the future and he politely read each sub-heading individually to me so that I could write it down on my tablet. I thanked Sgt. VanLeuvan and left the Sheriff's Office.
I must say, I was quite surprised that the following officers and county official did not inform me of this article when I contacted them to ensure that I was not in violation of any laws, prior to the demonstration:
Sergeant Brawning of the Westminster State Police Barracks
Sergeant VanLeuvan of the Carroll County Sheriff's Department
Captain Jay Gribbin III of the Hampstead Police Department
Chief John Williams of the Sykesville Police Department
Chief William Spaulding of the Westminster Police Department
Carroll County Attorney Kim Millender
From this moment forward, the Carroll County Progressives demonstration will not be in violation of this article any further and will change their signage accordingly for future demonstrations. Stay tuned to this web page this week for our next planned demonstration. Much appreciation goes out to everyone that participated during this event.
We will be steadfast in maintaining our right to Freedom of Speech in this county and will still attend the September 15th March in Washington.
This county has not heard the last of us...
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/26039
http://www.carrollcountyprogressives.com/
http://wibspeakout.blogspot.com/2007/08/wib-westminster-in-solidarity-with.html
Women in Black Westminster
Carroll County Progressives
