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19 protesters arrested for trespassing in Bangor
Bangor Daily News ^ | 3/21/03 | By Tom Groening

Posted on 03/21/2003 9:55:49 AM PST by metesky

Bangor Daily News - Print this Article

Bangor Daily News Photo by Denise Henhoeffer
Police officers carry a man out of the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor during a protest Thursday against the U.S. war in Iraq.
By Tom Groening, Of the NEWS Staff e-mail Tom
Last updated: Friday, March 21, 2003

19 protesters arrested for trespassing in Bangor

BANGOR - Police arrested 13 protesters Thursday at the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building on Harlow Street, and six more at U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe's office at One Cumberland Place on Thursday evening. All were charged with criminal trespassing.Dozens more participated in demonstrations against the U.S. invasion of Iraq at both Bangor locations, and in actions around the state. About 125 marched through downtown Belfast at noon, where one woman set fire to an American flag.

At noon at the Bangor federal building, protesters attempted to occupy the second-floor office of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, but were told by the building's security personnel that only three people could go up to her office. In protest, the group sat in a circle between the glass doors and blocked the X-ray machines in the first-floor lobby, causing one set of the building's doors to be closed temporarily, according to Police Chief Don Winslow.

Meanwhile, former Republican state legislator and congressional candidate Dick Campbell of Holden said he is organizing a Support the Troops rally from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Hogan Road and Bangor Mall Boulevard.

"We're encouraging people to bring U.S. flags, family and friends, and a veteran," Campbell said.

Now that war has begun, he said troops "need our support now more than ever."

On Thursday, the federal building protesters accused Snowe and Collins of abdicating their "constitutional authority by granting George Bush an open-ended right to launch war against Iraq without U.N. Security Council authority," said a statement by the Eastern Maine Peace and Justice Center.

At Snowe's office, 10 people arrived about noon and refused to leave until the senator spoke with them by telephone from Washington. A man and two women lay on the floor, with bicycle locks around their necks, which were hooked together, forming a chain.

A dozen police officers asked those occupying the office to leave when the office building closed at 5:30 p.m. Three of those remaining in the office left. But six refused and were arrested: Karen Saum, 68, of Bucksport; Amanda Kendall, 32, of Bar Harbor; Rob Fish, 24, of Bar Harbor; Jeffrey Black, 25, of Bar Harbor; Kyla Hershey-Wilson, 21, of Bar Harbor; and Megan Gilmartin, 19, of Trenton.

Black, Hershey-Wilson and Gilmartin refused to provide police with the keys to the bicycle locks. A locksmith was summoned to the office at 6:10 p.m., but was unable to pick the locks.

Police offered to drop the charges against the three if they produced the keys, but they refused. The protesters later agreed to comply if Snowe aide Gail Kelly could get Snowe to agree to meet with the protesters today. Kelly was unable to contact Snowe.

The Bangor Fire Department was summoned and used a large electric snipping tool to snap open the three-quarter-inch-thick locks.

In a statement, the protesters at the federal building claimed their efforts to convince the senators to oppose the "elective" war were ignored or trivialized. They refused to leave until the senators signed a prewritten proclamation stating the United States should bring troops home now.

Just after 2 p.m., each of the protesters was placed in plastic restraints by police and escorted one at a time to waiting vans provided by the Penobscot County Sheriff's Department. They were then taken to Penobscot County Jail, where they all later made the bail of $40. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail or a $500 fine.

One couple was dragged and one person was carried out of the building. Protesters outside repeatedly chanted, "Patriots for peace."

"War is a crime against the planet," said Penobscot resident Ron King as he was helped into a waiting sheriff's department van.

In a written statement, Collins thanked the protesters for voicing their objections. She said she has "consistently advocated multilateral and diplomatic means to resolve the crisis" and blamed Saddam Hussein for failing to abide by the surrender agreement he signed in 1991 and his refusal to leave Iraq.

"Ultimately, [Saddam] bears the responsibility for the war that is now occurring," Collins said.

Later in the afternoon, a "Bread, Not Bombs" rally brought more than 80 people to both sides of Harlow Street in front of the federal building. Participants beat drums and waved pro-peace signs at passing traffic.

At Snowe's office, the protesters effectively shut down operations, sprawling in chairs and on the floor of the small suite. Kelly, who manages the office, refused to open the door to anyone, except journalists, and when any of the protestors left, she would not let them return. She and office staff also blocked the delivery of food to the protesters.

Repeatedly, the protestors asked Kelly to contact Snowe, but Kelly was unable to contact her.

"Our senator would rather have us arrested than talk to us," Saum said.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY GABOR DEGRE

Protesting the U.S. war in Iraq, Jeffrey Black and Kyla Hershey-Wilson sit locked together with bicycle U-shaped locks around their necks on the floor of U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe's Bangor office on Thursday. Snowe's office manager, Gail Kelley, stands in the background. They were listening as a letter sent to the Bangor protesters by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins was read. Snowe, who was in Washington, sent no message to the protesters, six of whom were arrested.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY DENISE HENHOEFFER

Police officers carry a man out of the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor during a protest Thursday against the U.S. war in Iraq. Members of several peace coalitions in Maine staged a sit-in at the entrance to the building.




TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Maine
KEYWORDS: loonyleft; sameoldsameold
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Scruffy looking lot...
1 posted on 03/21/2003 9:55:49 AM PST by metesky
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To: 8mmMauser; Acela; AniGrrl; arepublicifyoucankeepit; Atomic Vomit; BM.Maine; bobzeetwin; bogeybob; ..
Over here, Ladies and Gentlemen!
2 posted on 03/21/2003 9:58:08 AM PST by metesky (My retirement fund is holding steady @ $.05 a can)
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To: metesky
I wonder how many were teachers who terrorized the children of reservists/guards who were called up?
3 posted on 03/21/2003 9:58:27 AM PST by Grampa Dave (Stamp out Freepathons! Stop being a Freep Loader! Become a monthly donor!)
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To: Grampa Dave
Darn good question, Dave.

They're back there today. They should be held on $1000 bail, but in this liberal town they'll probably get combat medals.

4 posted on 03/21/2003 10:02:11 AM PST by metesky (My retirement fund is holding steady @ $.05 a can)
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To: Grampa Dave
Why are those cops picking them up, bset thing in the world to move them is a mechanics creeper.

I refuese to throw out my back for any one, roll them over on the creeper and pull them out, up to them to keep theier heads up.

5 posted on 03/21/2003 10:02:40 AM PST by dts32041 (Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with a "4".)
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To: metesky
Isn't that Stephen King?
6 posted on 03/21/2003 10:03:10 AM PST by dts32041 (Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with a "4".)
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To: metesky
If 'Amanda Kendall' is the same 'Mandy Kendall' that went to UMaine while I was there.....she was a granola-eating, pot-smoking hippie twelve years ago, and apparently hasn't changed much for the better.
7 posted on 03/21/2003 10:05:02 AM PST by wbill
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To: dts32041
Ha! King doesn't look as manly as that weasel, besides King will probably stay in Florida until all the snow is gone.

I know King was in a march in Florida last week, but would my neighbor get himself arrested in his hometown.

8 posted on 03/21/2003 10:07:42 AM PST by metesky (My retirement fund is holding steady @ $.05 a can)
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To: metesky
i keep forgetting he can travel now, and leave his bat encrusted picket fence behind.
9 posted on 03/21/2003 10:26:27 AM PST by dts32041 (Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with a "4".)
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To: dts32041
I wish he'd keep traveling. Biggest contributoer in the state of Maine to the Clinton Defense Fund.
10 posted on 03/21/2003 10:29:22 AM PST by metesky (My retirement fund is holding steady @ $.05 a can)
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To: metesky
Go Bangor PD!
11 posted on 03/21/2003 10:30:03 AM PST by WomanofStandard (Life is Hard, but God is Good)
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To: metesky
But they were on public property. They are the public. How can this be called trespass?
12 posted on 03/21/2003 10:33:06 AM PST by RightWhale (Theorems link concepts: Proofs establish links)
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To: metesky
I was just noticing the number of Bar Harbor residents arrested. I have been going to Maine, (my birthstate)every summer for the past 20 yrs. staying just outside of Bar Harbor. I live in NYC and remember when I was young, the hippies of the late 60's and early 70's but there hasn't been one here that I've seen in decades. Yet, these hippies (known in Maine as "Granolas") are prevalent in Bar Harbor and love to lounge around in the parks there. They aren't all old folks left over from the 60's either...many are young people who have adopted the hippie mindset. Feels like a time warp when we go there and walk past them in the park.
13 posted on 03/21/2003 10:37:37 AM PST by WomanofStandard (Life is Hard, but God is Good)
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To: metesky
Sedition. No matter the technicalities, these are are enemies of our country, having sided with a declared enemy of America,or what is left of him.

They do not respond to cajoling, appeasement, reason, block all reason out of their unsanitary minds. Bullies including terrorists or their wimpy allies like these are inherent cowards, understand force real well. Stand up to them and rage and fume they might, but they fade.

I hope Bangor cops give them what they have earned.

Funny how the ranks thin. Not a huge crowd. Guess they are busy now watching Shock and Awe.
14 posted on 03/21/2003 10:39:06 AM PST by 8mmMauser (Saddamn pizza, home delivery, we deliver)
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To: metesky
On Thursday, the federal building protesters accused Snowe and Collins of abdicating their "constitutional authority by granting George Bush an open-ended right to launch war against Iraq without U.N. Security Council authority," said a statement by the Eastern Maine Peace and Justice Center.

Wow, my ConLaw class must have skipped the part where it discusses UN sovereignty over us.
15 posted on 03/21/2003 10:40:53 AM PST by Xenalyte (I may not agree with your bumper sticker, but I'll defend to the death your right to stick it)
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To: WomanofStandard
Bar Harbor was the perfect place last time I was there (1958). Good that the fact of the New England winter will keep it from becoming Key West. Get your little sailboat and forget the world.
16 posted on 03/21/2003 10:42:44 AM PST by RightWhale (Theorems link concepts: Proofs establish links)
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To: Xenalyte
I was waiting for some one to pick up on that! Freepin' funny or what?
17 posted on 03/21/2003 10:51:30 AM PST by metesky (My retirement fund is holding steady @ $.05 a can)
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To: WomanofStandard
We take a couple of day trips down there every summer for the restaurants and bars, but you're right, it is a time warp.

But The Thirsty Whale has good chowda and ice cold beer!
;O)

18 posted on 03/21/2003 10:54:31 AM PST by metesky (My retirement fund is holding steady @ $.05 a can)
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To: metesky
But The Thirsty Whale has good chowda and ice cold beer!

It's a good eatery. Jordan's Pancake House is great for breakfast too but staying 30 minutes away in Ellsworth and me being a latenighter rather than an early riser, we have a hard time getting there for breakfast! We used to like a restuarant on Cottage Street but they changed hands years ago and is now gone. The best is Ben & Bill's Emporium ice cream though.....my arteries clog just thinking about it!

19 posted on 03/21/2003 11:00:41 AM PST by WomanofStandard (Life is Hard, but God is Good)
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To: metesky
Repeatedly, the protestors asked Kelly to contact Snowe, but Kelly was unable to contact her. "Our senator would rather have us arrested than talk to us," Saum said.

I'm no fan of Snowe, but how can she even begin to hold a conversation with a bunch of spoiled brats who are having a collectivist temper tantrum?

Back to the Baldacci plantation for these folks.

20 posted on 03/21/2003 11:08:00 AM PST by Thinkin' Gal
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