Being a local resident of the LaCrosse area having watched this play out over the last year, my opinion is that you will not prevail in the federal lawsuit. Any sane judge will look at the fact that there is a major reconstruction of the bridge between WI/MN going on which extends into the Town of Campbell on I-90. The town board had every right to ban protesters from the bridge at this time and any other with the lane closures and multiple on off ramps and exits in the proximity. Skirting around the sign ordinance wearing t-shirts instead of holding signs is juvenile at best.
Even without the construction, protesting on the bridge is a dangerous distraction - that is the town’s defense not the police chiefs integrity. He and his police officers were simply enforcing an ordinance that they were required to enforce by the town board. They did so calmly and patiently in the face of taunts, threats both in person and thru written and audio communications, and grave bodily harm. Fact - multiple death threats were made to various officers. The LaCrosse tea party was and is doing all they can to make their jobs miserable. Did they make the death threat calls personally - not sure but did they disseminate personal information on the town board member and police officers on multiple websites to entice others to harass for them in their stead, yes. Thus we have local tea party members who can throw their hands up and pretend they have no part in the viciousness of what has happened to law enforcement officers doing their required jobs. I for one do not condone this behavior nor should any “tea party” member.
It is very unfortunate that the self described local tea party leader is such an extremist - he, his cohorts and their antics give all rational tea party members a bad name. There are leftist extremists - we on the right have our own as well....
Ironically (and sadly) there was a multi-car accident with a fatality and multiple critical injuries not more than a few days ago almost directly under the bridge being argued about. It is not a safe area for distractions - there is no argument on that.
What this police chief did was inexcusable. On the same front what the local tea party has done and is doing behind the scenes to entice harassment and threats towards the police is inexcusable as well. There are no winners here. The Lacrosse Tea Party is doing what we often complain about - using the politics of personal destruction on local law enforcement officials. To achieve our means politically we tea party members should hold ourselves to a higher standard than those we oppose.
Finally, being a catholic I am frankly surprised that the Thomas More Law Center did not do a more thorough check on who they are representing. They did not pick a winner in this case.
MissH, Do you not understand the danger of government using temporary safety issues to permanently strip us of our first amendment rights?? That is what is happening here.
Let me ask you this, do you think we would have sued them if the ordinance was just temporary and would have went away after completion of the project?
The US Supreme court just ruled 9-0 against those that had set limits on how far away one had to be on a public sidewalk in front of an abortion clinic. The town also passed an arbitrary 100 foot rule to keep protestors 100 feet away from all overpasses (public sidewalk). Why 100 feet, why not 90 feet or 115 feet. We will win on this point, no question.
Your comment of us “Skirting around the sign ordinance wearing t-shirts instead of holding signs is juvenile at best” really shows your ignorance. Nowhere in the ordinance did it address wearing clothing. This was intentionally done to prove that the town was “chilling” free speech.
Your comment “Even without the construction, protesting on the bridge is a dangerous distraction”. How so? There are scrolling marquee signs, LED billboards, etc. all along this stretch that takes your eyes off the road. We were in line of sight. This stretch of interstate was no more dangerous than anywhere else in the state and the traffic flow is excellent. These protests are occurring in over 500 cities across the nation. Not once has an accident occurred as a result of these protests.
There could be ten more accidents or deaths at that location during this construction. It has no bearing on the lawsuit. The case was about what occurred before the construction and what will happen after the construction.
As far as you blaming the local Tea Party and you personally trying to make us look bad by claiming all of the calls, emails and threats they were receiving, were occurring because of the local Tea Party is ridiculous. This is a national story and we are shaking the tree of liberty. If a few nuts fell off, do not blame us. We are using the legal process to fight this and your comments do nothing to advance the cause of freedom and liberty.
90% of your post is irrelevant to the case against the chief.
I think you will find that the TMLC has a better handle on the big picture than you do. You have focused on the little picture at the local level and missed the fact that permanent restrictions on speech (using a temporary safety issue) cannot be allowed to stand, or they will spring up all over in an attempt to stifle speech that the overlords don't like.
I also have a hard time believing that a police chief who would stoop to such a nasty immature act of retaliation is a good leader that makes sure his officers behave in a constitutional manner. There is no excuse for that behavior. It was a very unprincipled act, indicative of complete lack of character.
Furthermore, public servants, whether police or board members who can't take the heat of public discourse, should take President Truman's advice and get out of the kitchen.