Posted on 08/03/2004 2:41:15 PM PDT by wagglebee
NORWALK, Conn. -- State police say the slow-moving truck on Interstate 95 that was displaying large graphic photos of aborted fetuses drew so much attention that it posed a public safety concern.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
It seems the leftists are offended by the images of their carnage. I think any woman seeking a abortion should be forced to look at pictures like these.
Why is a guy who has been placed on probation for bizarre harassment behaviors allowed to deal with the public?
The cops here in CT really do seem to be out of control lately.
Troopers David Febbraio, 29, of Danbury, and Brian Stas, 30, of Waterbury, are charged with several counts of harassment.
YES! These guys got harrassed by a trooper with an ARREST RECORD for - get this HARASSMENT!
See #5. This guy is a tort lawyer's dream. He's gonna buy 20 trucks for this group.
safety concern, the thousands of liberals with their anti war crap can protest all they want in the middle of the street and one truck causes such a concern, what hogwash
Spoken like a true Marine. Carry on!
Civilized people don't resort to violence no matter how strongly you feel.
pinggggggggggggggggg
bumpkin
NORWALK, Conn. -- State police say the slow-moving truck on Interstate 95 that was displaying large graphic photos of aborted fetuses drew so much attention that it posed a public safety concern.
But the anti-abortion protesters inside the vehicle allege authorities violated their civil rights by pulling them over, making derogatory remarks, arresting a passenger and ordering them to remove the pictures or leave the state. They said they drove throughout the region without incident until they were stopped last week in Norwalk.
"It appears that Connecticut has taken a page from Wyatt Earp's play book," said Brian Fahling, an attorney for the protesters. "This is a picture perfect example of how to mishandle First Amendment issues."
The American Family Association Center for Law and Policy, which is representing the demonstrators, have demanded an internal investigation into last Thursday afternoon's incident and said they plan to file a lawsuit.
State police said they had not received a complaint, but would investigate if requested. They denied the stop and arrest were politically motivated.
The protesters were returning from the Democratic National Convention in Boston, where they joined hundreds of other anti-abortion activists.
State police said they received several complaints from the public about the graphic nature of the photos and that the truck was driving too slowly in the center lane, backing up traffic.
"Both the images and the vehicle's speed were causing a curiosity backup and causing a public safety concern," said Sgt. Roger Beaupre, a state police spokesman. "That's why they pulled them over."
A passenger, Michael Marcavage, 24, of Lansdowne, Pa., got out of the vehicle to videotape the incident and was walking on the highway, Beaupre said.
After Marcavage repeatedly refused to comply with orders to get back into the vehicle for his own safety, he was arrested and charged with interfering with police and reckless use of the highway by a pedestrian, police said.
But Marcavage and his attorneys say Trooper David Febbraio berated him as a "Jesus-freak," a "wing-nut," "brainwashed" and "extremist" and, noting his arrest, said the "Lord was not with you today."
The trooper allegedly told the men that "people should have the freedom not to look" at their photos. Police ordered the signs removed, but the group said they had the right to display them and couldn't unfasten them without tools, said Michael DePrimo, another attorney representing the protesters.
Police accepted the explanation, but told the driver and another passenger to immediately leave the state, DePrimo said.
"He made it clear they had to immediately leave the state and not return with the truck," DePrimo said.
Marcavage, director of Repent America, a Christian evangelical organization based in Philadelphia, said he spent four hours in jail before he was released on a $1,000 bond.
Marcavage denied they were driving too slowly and said he videotaped the incident because he was concerned about the driver, who was being interviewed outside the vehicle beyond his view. He said he was complying with the trooper's order to get back in the vehicle, but asked for the driver to be allowed back in the truck as well when he was arrested.
"It's absolutely outrageous," Marcavage said. "This officer is dangerous and needs to be terminated."
Febbraio did not return telephone messages left Tuesday. Beaupre said he could not comment about what may have been said during the incident.
The attorneys noted that the trooper was arrested last year on charges of harassing a dispatcher by signing her up for more than a dozen magazine subscriptions. Febbraio received accelerated rehabilitation, a special form of probation for first-time offenders, officials said.
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Clear cut case of creating a distubance of the peace, imo..
Why not let a jury decide the issue? Isn't that the american way?
"I think any woman seeking to have an abortion should be forced to look at pictures like these."
That's nothing more than forcing a person to understand the ramifications of their actions. If leftists insisted that everyone who wished to have sexual intercourse be forced to look at pictures of babies, I would support that as well. (Yes, I know I reversed your analogy, it doesn't work the other way.)
Gays kissing? Maybe force everyone who wished to have gay relations to read up on the pain of AIDS? Yea, there's another good idea.
I'll take it a step further. Maybe we should include pictures of bad car wrecks in Driver's Ed?
And lastly, as far as the mobile billboards, I don't think everyone should have to see that. Many people however, do need to see it, and even if there's only a slight possibility of saving a single child, that concern must take precendence over all else. My discomfort is of little importance in comparison.
FUNNY, how pictures of murdering babies gets you thrown in jail,
BUT MURDERING BABIES IS OK!
This is why we need more men like Allan Keyes running for office.
STOP ABORTION!
Funny how displaying objectional pictures in public has always led to charges of disturbing the peace, isn't it?
BUT MURDERING BABIES IS OK!
No, it isn't. Lets hope that Scott Peterson soon finds that out.
This is why we need more men like Allan Keyes running for office. STOP ABORTION!
A Congress full of 'Keyes' couldn't stop abortion. A police state could, -- maybe.
Did your Marine Corps oath include protecting & defending such a State?
The one I took in the Army mentioned defending our Constitution, not a police states 'rights'.
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