To be fair to Police, they used the correct Tape.
Posted on 03/20/2016 8:47:36 AM PDT by Kaslin
The disturbing pattern of liberals conflating the idea of protests or free speech with criminal disruption of commerce and infrastructure continued yesterday with yet another “demonstration” in the hours before a planned Donald Trump rally in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Most of the candidates were visiting the Grand Canyon State in the final hours before their primary on Tuesday and Trump was no exception. But before the event could even begin, several dozen “progressive” activists decided that people shouldn’t be allowed to attend the rally, or indeed get anywhere near Fountain Hills. To ensure this disruption of all private and commercial activity they used vehicles and human bodies to close down the only ready access to the community, as described by Jenna Johnson at the Washington Post.
Protesters on Saturday blocked an Arizona highway that served as a route into this Phoenix suburb where Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump had a campaign rally scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern time.
The protesters first blocked traffic with a pair of pickup trucks, with banners reading “Comb Over Racism: Dump Trump” and “Shut down Trump,” as seen from aerial footage aired by Fox 10 Phoenix, a local TV affiliate. As the trucks were later towed away to clear a path for traffic, protesters formed a human wall. Traffic finally resumed along the highway, a main route into the suburb hosting the rally, after officers began arresting protesters. Three were arrested, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in his remarks introducing Trump.
As the coverage suggests, traffic was almost entirely shut down and vehicles were backed up for miles. What’s truly notable in this case is the specific location of the blockade, demonstrating a very specific plan by the protesters. There’s a better description at CNN.
The protesters in Arizona parked vehicles sideways on Shea Boulevard, blocking both lanes of traffic into Fountain Hills, where Trump held a rally Saturday afternoon, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Joaquin Enriquez told CNN.
Enriquez described Shea Boulevard as the main artery into the area and the protesters’ actions were causing motorists to drive into oncoming traffic as they tried to get around them. Traffic was backed up for miles due to the blockage.
There is essentially one entry point into the community of Fountain Hills from the main route through the area. (Rt. 87, Beeline Highway.) That choke point is East Shea Blvd. Just past the blockade is the turn onto the road leading to Fountain Park, the site of the rally. Do you know what else is on East Shea a few miles further down? The Mayo Clinic… the only hospital in the immediate area. Not everyone on the road that day was heading to the Trump rally. The majority of them simply needed to get in and out of Fountain Hills, the site of many homes and businesses. And yes… that could have included ambulances heading for the hospital.
Clearly the liberals involved in these “protests” have learned their lessons from the Black Lives Matter movement. Rather than assembling peacefully to make their voices heard and get their message out, they have regularly resorted to criminal behavior on a massive scale, shutting down commerce and doing their best to “disrupt” the normal flow of traffic. Unfortunately, law enforcement in cities around the country seems to be completely unprepared for this sort of lawlessness, perhaps fearing the inevitable slanted coverage they would get in the media for doing their jobs. Even here, in Joe Arpaio’s back yard, they only managed to arrest three people and tow away a couple of vehicles. With as much advance notice as they had to prepare, one might expect that the sheriff would have had a small army of officers in the area with vans ready to haul off criminals on a large scale and quickly reestablish order.
Intentionally shutting down a highway – particularly one which serves as an effective choke point to an entire community – is not a “protest.” It’s a violation of the law which serves no interest in terms of free speech or messaging. Minnesota recently introduced legislation which would make the authors of such disruption pay for the extra costs imposed on the local community. Arizona and the rest of the states should look into similar remedies since this is quickly turning into the new normal. The Sheriff could (and should) have arrested everyone blocking that road, gotten all of their information and ensured that they were held responsible for the costs in addition to spending a bit of time behind bars to remind them of the serious consequences of their actions. As long as we keep treating this sort of criminal behavior as acceptable, normal demonstrations of free speech we will only embolden more scofflaws considering similar dangerous actions.
We’ll close with a brief video from Fox News providing an overview of the mayhem.
Protesters shut down road to Arizona Trump rally
Free publicity.
The only way to deal with leftists is to crush them......when was the last time THEIR side reached across the aisle?
Democrats blockaded the road. Those weren’t libertarians or decline to states or Republicans.
Democrats have no problem with this idea anyway, all your stuff belongs to them.
I'd hire the Hell's Angels to do some highway cleaning...
Will last until Trump supporters start “*itch slapping” these fools....
Don’t you have a protest to attend?
Like the BLM blockade/rioters in Chicago’s busiest shopping area for Christmas.
How could authorities allow that to happen?
“...blocked traffic with a pair of pickup trucks...”
In many places, that’s called disorderly conduct.
The person is arrested and his car is impounded.
Are Progressives immune from all that and since when?
Just asking.
IMHO
Officials/police should be primed to immediately tow them away to an impound lot where it would cost big bucks to "redeem" the vehicles. Enough of these hits and those idiots might get the idea.
Like Democrats blockading businesses during Christmas you mean?
(Yeah, I’m now on a kick identifying the real group behind these actions.)
Looks like there’s enough deputies there to manhandle the vehicles off the road. In the future, authorities should have tow vehicles on standby to haul these wannabe Brown Shirts’ cars off to the impound lot. Charge ‘em $350 +, plus “storage fees” to get ‘em back.
the protesters will find the same thing rachel corrie found- 3 tons beats 100 to 500 lbs everytime
Maricopa is a big county. Tow their vehicles to the new Gila Bend impound lot. Charge them with felony willful obstruction of public officers or emergency personnel.
You really aren't thinking as a government official with the power implied. Tow trucks cost money and time. Road equipment is already owned and the changes can still be made for disposal of a totaled vehicle. Vehicle is rolled onto its side or roof and the registered owner is given a summons to remove it in 24 hours as an eyesore or have it removed by the governmental unit. Said unit then pays cost plus to have a private enterprise remove and salvage it and then charges the registered Owner.
Mom is mad with darling when he car is totaled and she still has to pay removal.
This action caused me to tell a Cruzbot, who claimed Trump had called for and organized these thug activities on an other forum, that he was a rectal faced liar. I was severely reprimanded an given a dire warning. It was a gun forum but inhabited by Cruz and Kasich dreamers.
For anyone who happens to live in areas where this might happen http://www.liquidass.com/
I am sure a liberal application near these idiots will be enjoyable. Don’t spray directly on the dirty hippies. No, that would be assault. Just near them so it wafts toward them. Not that hippies would notice but just maybe they might. If that fails... Throw bars of hotel soap and job applications.
The biggest Cat bulldozer with the widest blade would work nicely to clear the streets of assorted rabble.
DEFINITELY time to go buy that custom railroad iron and razor wire front bumper for the Ford Explorer.
While the article condemns the criminal behavior, the headline still manages to convey the idea that it is Trump’s fault. Typical “journalism” these days.
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