PEACEMONGER ALERT Police watch as 9-11 memorial trashed.

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31473 ^ | March 11, 2003

[rimmont]

Police in a Los Angeles suburb allowed anti-war protesters to trash a patriotic 9-11 memorial, citing the vandals' "freedom of speech."

The protesters burned and ripped up flags, flowers and patriotic signs erected on a fence along a boulevard in La Habra, Calif. The display had been maintained since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said the local Whittier Daily News.

Officers witnessed the vandalism Saturday afternoon but did not arrest three people seen damaging the memorial because they were "exercising the same freedom of speech that the people who put up the flags were," said La Habra Police Capt. John Rees.

"For this to be vandalism, there had to be an ill-will intent,' he said, according to the Whittier paper.

Police would take action only if the owner filed a complaint, said Rees.

Owner Jeff Collision said he might press charges.

"Their free speech stops at destruction of private property," said Collision, who runs The RV Center of La Habra. "If they are allowed to come on my property and burn flags, does that mean I can go to City Hall or the police station and light their flags on fire because that is freedom of speech? To me, this is vandalism."

A local resident who helped maintain the spontaneous memorial said she was shocked by the destruction.

"They trashed 87 flags, ripped 11 memorial tiles made by myself and my children out of the ground and glued the Bob Dylan song to a sign that said, 'America, land of the brave, home of the free,'" said Tracey Chandler, a mother of four, referring to Dylan's "With God on Our Side," an anti-war anthem of the 1960s.

"It's unbelievable, because there were absolutely no political messages on this fence," said Chandler, according to the Daily News. "It was all about supporting our troops, which could mean bringing them home, and about remembering 9-11."

The paper quoted Les Howard, a sociology professor at Whittier College, who said he did not condone the destruction but believed the incident might reflect confusion among people trying to prevent a war against Iraq who are uncertain about how to express their sentiments.

"Some think [the best way to support the troops] is to not question their role," Howard said. "Some think the best way is to pursue all means possible to avoid putting them in danger. That still does not excuse any desecration of people's symbolic participation."

Chandler said she is going to help rebuild the memorial, promising "it will be brighter, bigger and better than ever."

[JoJo Gunn]

Don't forget that many people died needlessly because of Political Correctness and the snipers and Moose. The Left is now unmistakeably a clear and present danger. We can't depend on the police any more. They have been co-opted.

[Republicus2001]

I stand corrected La Habra not LA

[Sangria]

They are heathens and there is no other way for them to behave except to hate and destroy.

[spodefly]

Best of the Web Today - March 11, 2003
By JAMES TARANTO

'Antiwar' Is Anti-American
On this semianniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks--they happened 18 months ago today--a story from La Habra, Calif., tells you all you need to know about the "antiwar" movement. The Whittier Daily News reports:

Antiwar protesters burned and ripped up flags, flowers and patriotic signs at a Sept. 11 memorial that residents erected on a fence along Whittier Boulevard days after the terrorist attacks in 2001 and have maintained ever since.

One Les Howard, a sociology professor at Whittier College tells the news that, as the paper puts it, "the incident might be an indication of some confusion among people trying to stop a possible war against Iraq but uncertain how to express their sentiments." Leave it to a sociology prof to explain away an act of pure hatred as the work of well-intentioned but mixed-up folks.

[billsux]

maybe Florida will slide off too? I mean it's just dangling there ready to get lopped off...
;)

[Paleo Conservative]

Notice this happened in Kalifornistan. If a bunch of protesters tried that in Texas, they would be likely to get a belly full of hot lead.

[lorrainer]

The paper quoted Les Howard, a sociology professor at Whittier College, who said he did not condone the destruction but believed the incident might reflect confusion among people trying to prevent a war against Iraq who are uncertain about how to express their sentiments.

What are they, seven years old? Did they forget to take their Ritalin? Do they need a time-out? If they are "uncertain" again, they could try playing in traffic. Sheesh.

[CyberAnt]

Hey! I resent that!

[CyberAnt]

"there had to be an ill-will intent"

NO DUH!! Looks like La Hambra PD needs a little FReeping!!

[lsee]

La Habra

[Palladin]

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