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Pro-Life T-Shirts Banned on Golden Gate Bridge
EWTN ^ | 5/23/02

Posted on 05/23/2002 9:24:02 AM PDT by marshmallow

WASHINGTON DC, (LSN.ca/CWNews.com) - Crossroads, a youth pro-life wing of American Life League which walks across the US to herald the pro-life message, was stopped from crossing the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. Crossroads kicked off its annual pilgrimage Monday.

Crossroads was begun in the early 90s by students at Franciscan University of Steubenville and now each summer, pro-life college students walk across the country, pray at abortion facilities, speak at churches, and host town hall meetings to educate the public about abortion.

Leaving from San Francisco and heading to Toronto, the walkers approached the Golden Gate bridge. As the walkers were crossing the bridge, bridge patrol officers stopped them. According to the patrol, the walkers' T-shirts are not allowed on the bridge. On the front, the T-shirts read "Pro-Life." An American flag is on the back.

The walkers were informed that the pro-life shirts are a form of political protest. If the walkers didn't comply with the request to desist, they could be punished with a $10,000 fine and a year in jail.

Adam Redmon, director of Crossroads, commented "Officers ordered our team members-- who were wearing pro-life T-shirts-- to remove their shirts. America is pro-life, and pro-life Americans should not be targeted for discrimination -- especially in the San Francisco Bay area, where the right to free expression is held in high regard." Redmon says the group is planning legal action so as to stem such discrimination.


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To: marshmallow
I'm sure the "I'm Gay and Proud" t-shirts are OK though, right?
21 posted on 05/23/2002 10:19:44 AM PDT by unixfox
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To: HairOfTheDog
Just to put this to rest, an article on this incident was posted yesterday under the title "Prolifers Censored in San Francisco" (sorry I don't have time to link it) and contained the following.

Kary Witt, bridge manager of the Golden Gate District, has apologized for the incident.

"It should not have happened," he told WND. "One officer got way overzealous."

Witt said a representative from the San Francisco Catholic Diocese contacted him to complain and that he offered the district's apology.

"I have briefed all our officers on it," he said, to ensure that a similar incident doesn't happen again.

Obviously, there is no ordinance and the officer acted irresponsibly.

22 posted on 05/23/2002 10:26:37 AM PDT by garv
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To: AlaskaErik
American Criminal Lover's Union-lol!

We don't have A CLU

Funny ACLU, Peta article

23 posted on 05/23/2002 10:28:36 AM PDT by Rad_J
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To: marshmallow
Sounds like the makings of a class action lawsuit to me...
24 posted on 05/23/2002 10:28:54 AM PDT by kellynla
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To: HairOfTheDog
HairOfTheDog said: "However, I would imagine that they are not selective about stopping disruptions and protests on the bridge. "

When their was a public desire to celebrate an anniversary of the building of the bridge, traffic was disrupted completely while the bridge was solidly populated by people on foot.

It isn't about traffic, it's about values and control.

25 posted on 05/23/2002 10:30:32 AM PDT by William Tell
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To: HairOfTheDog
Don't know about left coast. But in Illinois (both DemocRAT Chicago and RepubICAN burbs) enforcement is selective. Police say that influential politicians have suggested which groups and individuals are "disruptive". Linking smoking to cancer is OK. Linking abortion to cancer is disruptive.

Generally it is pro-status pro-quo incumbent pro-establishment vs anything that threatens the status quo. It is usually not right vs left. The establishment truly views anyone who intentionally chooses to not be in the establishment mainstream as a mentally ill wacko who needs counseling and re-education.

26 posted on 05/23/2002 10:33:18 AM PDT by spintreebob
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To: garv
Is it an urban legend that there is a law against jumping from the Golden Gate? hehehe - I did hear that once and giggle about it even now.

I did start Google-searching for other bridge-protest arrests just to see what is normal. Earth Liberation Front (with Woody Harrelson included) was arrested for their protest, but they did much more than walk across, they scaled the bridge with repelling gear and hung banners. That is all I found in my two minutes of looking...

27 posted on 05/23/2002 10:33:30 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
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To: spintreebob
anyone who intentionally chooses to not be in the establishment mainstream as a mentally ill wacko who needs counseling and re-education

Well, to be fair, once in awhile they are right! ;~D

28 posted on 05/23/2002 10:36:07 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
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To: American Preservative
Thought that you might be interested in this story. I would assume that since the unwashed, anti-globalization cretins that you pinged me about won't be wearing clean, pro-US flag, matching political T-shirts, their scheduled "take-over" of the Golden Gate Bridge over the Memorial Day weekend will be OK with the GG authorities. Thank goodness that my family and I will be in Lake Tahoe this upcoming Friday and will not be crossing the GG Bridge at the beginning or end of our trip. I'd be tempted to run the anti-globalizationers over...
29 posted on 05/23/2002 10:38:01 AM PDT by demnomo
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Comment #30 Removed by Moderator

To: William Tell
Well, I don't mind a little control. I live in liberal hippy-anarchist land, and get really annoyed that a couple dozen nuts with a cause can stand in the middle and shut down a freeway. Their rights seem to trump mine. I know I am taking a risk with this view, but I hope to convince would-be public protesters that they have a huge marketing problem when their actions get between me and where I am going. They are not going to make me sensitive to their cause. I don't think sitting on a stopped freeway would be less annoying if I agreed with the politics of the group blocking me.
31 posted on 05/23/2002 10:44:24 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
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To: HairOfTheDog
There is a big protest to disrupt the Golden Gate Bridge during the Memorial weekend by the Berzerkley, anti-globalization crowd. The info is on another thread. Somehow, I doubt if the leftist slobs will wear coordinating t-shirts...or be dressed neat and tidy for that matter. I wouldn't want to be crossing the GG come this weekend. Talk about obnoxious disruptions/distractions of traffic! But these protesters are mostly pro-abortion and decidedly left-wing, so I predict that the San Francisco Chronicle, national news media, NOW and the ACLU will be on hand to protect and promote their 1st Amendment rights!
32 posted on 05/23/2002 10:47:02 AM PDT by demnomo
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To: HairOfTheDog
Do we know for sure that these people were really attempting to shut down traffic on the bridge? Lots of big bridges have lanes on the side for walkers and bikers to use. Maybe they just wanted to use those.
33 posted on 05/23/2002 10:49:31 AM PDT by jpl
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To: jpl
No, we know very little really... we don't even know from the article if there were 2 of them or 200 of them.
34 posted on 05/23/2002 10:50:37 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
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To: HairOfTheDog
No one has the right to disrupt traffic on the bridge to make a political statement.

Well, I agree with you on that . I just hadn't read into the article that they were deliberately going to disrupt traffic. I thought they were walking along the walkways in numbers that would allow other walkers to pass by (thus no disruption). If their goal was to camp out on the bridge and prevent traffic , then , like I said, I agree with you.
I just figure the pro-life protesters should establish what is considered disruptive and see that it is applied fairly to all groups.

35 posted on 05/23/2002 10:53:55 AM PDT by techcor
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To: moyden
"Every liberal is a fascist thug."

I am forced to take exception to this statement.

The overwhelming majority of Liberals are far to effeminate to be labeled as "thugs".

You could call conservatives "thugs", but not a Liberal.

Try "fascist pantywaists" or "fascist little hoes" etc etc.

36 posted on 05/23/2002 11:00:56 AM PDT by VaBthang4
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To: HairOfTheDog
Since my first post didn't do the trick, here is the full text of yesterday's post from WND. From the article it's clear that the police acted outside the bounds of their authority. The bridge authority has publicly apologized and repudiated the actions of the officers.

WorldNetDaily.com | Wednesday, May 22, 2002 | By Ron Strom

Posted on 5/22/02 3:05 AM Eastern by JohnHuang2

Law-enforcement officers on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco demanded that a pair of college students walking across the structure as part of a demonstration remove their pro-life T-shirts or be subject to a fine and jail time.

"Our walkers' free-speech rights have been stifled by the bridge patrol," said Adam Redmon, director of Crossroads, a division of American Life League, the organization sponsoring the walk. "Officers ordered our team members – who were wearing pro-life T-shirts – to remove their shirts. America is pro-life, and pro-life Americans should not be targeted for discrimination – especially in the San Francisco Bay area, where the right to free expression is held in high regard."

Crossroads' annual walk, in which pro-life students walk across the country, began on Monday. According to the organization, the participants "pray at abortion facilities, speak at churches and host town hall meetings to educate the public about abortion."

Leaving San Francisco and heading to Toronto on Monday, the walkers approached the Golden Gate Bridge. As they crossed, officers from the Golden Gate District stopped them and told them their shirts were not allowed on the bridge. On the front, the T-shirts read "Pro-Life." An American flag is featured on the back.

According to Crossroads, the walkers were informed that the pro-life shirts are a form of political protest and that if they didn't remove the clothing, they could be punished with a $10,000 fine and a year in jail.

Redmon told WorldNetDaily that the officers told the students their walking was a distraction to traffic on the bridge. But to communicate their demand to the walkers, he said, the policemen "had to stop traffic."

"The officers were very insistent" about the need to remove the shirts, Redmon said.

The two students who were stopped complied with the officers' demand to remove their shirts. Three others were faster walkers and thus reached the opposite side without being stopped. Redmon was unsure what other clothing the students had available besides the T-shirts.

Kary Witt, bridge manager of the Golden Gate District, has apologized for the incident.

"It should not have happened," he told WND. "One officer got way overzealous."

Witt said a representative from the San Francisco Catholic Diocese contacted him to complain and that he offered the district's apology.

"I have briefed all our officers on it," he said, to ensure that a similar incident doesn't happen again.

Witt says the same college students were on the bridge on Saturday and unfurled a banner, which is prohibited without a permit. One of the officers was aware of the action on Saturday and, said Witt, "feared they were going to unfurl the banner again."

The students carried a three-foot statue of Mary with them, but it was the shirts that the officers objected to.

According to Redmon, there have been over 25 cases this year alone where public high-school students have been told not to wear pro-life shirts to school.

"This is a disturbing trend," Redmon said. "We have contacted our lawyers about the incident on the Golden Gate Bridge. We want to right this wrong before others are subjected to the discriminatory whim of the bridge patrol."

Witt hoped to contact Crossroads to head off any legal action against his agency.

37 posted on 05/23/2002 11:01:12 AM PDT by garv
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To: techcor
Well, right or wrong, we are all drawing on assumptions based on our experiences... Evidently, from further articles garv is posting, the cop was out of bounds. My gripes are with protest behavior in general... to which I hold, and your gripes are probably with an anti-right-wing bias, to which you likely hold.

I am right, and you are right. And everyone else here is also right!

38 posted on 05/23/2002 11:06:33 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
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To: July 4th
 My guess is...

  ...just that.

39 posted on 05/23/2002 11:08:41 AM PDT by gcruse
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To: unixfox
exactly, the pro-gay t-shirts are a political expression and they are surely allowed.
40 posted on 05/23/2002 11:29:03 AM PDT by Red Jones
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