Lt. Dan Choi threatened with arrest in Topeka, Kansas

[proud2BlibKansan]

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Lt. Dan Choi was in Topeka, Kansas today in support of gay and lesbian rights when Capitol Police officers nearly arrested him outside the state capitol for refusing to surrender his American flag. One witness reports that the police claimed that flags could be used as weapons.

The police threatened to arrest those who would not turn in their American flags. Choi dared the police officers to take his flag.

Police backed down when challenged by Choi and other protesters who claimed their First Amendment rights to express themselves through the American flag. There is video of the incident, as well as photos that I will be obtaining, likely by tomorrow.

more . . . http://progressivetoo.com/2011/06/24/lt-dan-choi-threatened-with-arrest-in-topeka-kansas/

[JI7]

1. flags can be used as weapons ?

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Only in Topeka

Apparently

[hfojvt]

8. I remember the labor rally at Washington Days

when they did not allow any sign posts or flag poles at the rally. I thought that was odd. After all, I had a sign in Manhattan for the Bush visit there.

[baldguy]

4. In the hands of a right-winger, it can be.

"The Soiling Of Old Glory

In his recent speech on race, Barack Obama spoke about the legacy of racial hatred and resentment in America. One of the events he probably had in mind was the controversy over busing that erupted in Boston in the mid-1970s. A single photograph epitomized for Americans the meaning and horror of the crisis. On April 5, 1976, at an anti-busing rally at City Hall Plaza, Stanley Forman, a photographer for the Boston Herald-American, captured a teenager as he transformed the American flag into a weapon directed at the body of a black man. It is the ultimate act of desecration, performed in the year of the bicentennial and in the shadows of Boston's Old State House. Titled The Soiling of Old Glory, the photograph appeared in newspapers around the country and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1977. The image shattered the illusion that racial segregation and hatred were strictly a Southern phenomenon. For many, Boston now seemed little different than Birmingham."



more
http://www.slate.com/id/2188648/slideshow/2188675/fs/0//entry/2188674/

[MuseRider]

15. The poles

were what they took away from us. We held the American Flag, the Kansas Flag and the Rainbow flags in our hands. The troopers told us they were going against orders to let us do that. Against the regs that you can have even have hand held flags at a rally on the grounds of your Capitol building? That is not what the letter from the Capitol that I was holding in my hot little hand told us. The newspaper even printed pictures of other groups with flags. We had flags a couple of months ago. It was harassment from the moment I started unloading the flags till the end. We were prepared to be arrested but they backed off when they realized they would have to yank a little baby sized flag from the hands of a man who had been shot at in service to it. They interrupted it all, every little thing. I loved it when Dan told them that he dared them to come and take the American flag out of his hands. They were the small flags, you know like the flags you would put on your desk. It was intentional. We had gotten word that Brownback had ordered more troopers, there was probably a trooper for every 2 or 3 of us.

[SoDesuKa]

20. Weapons of Mass Distortion

From the news story, these are the flags the Topeka cops sought to confiscate as weapons. Check out the menacing spear tips.



Warning: Flag waving may induce feelings of patriotism. Use with caution.

[JonLP24]

3. WTF?

I have a chain for my wallet(that I always wear) that could be a much more dangerous weapon than a little flag. Would they try to take that from me if I was at the rally?

[MuseRider]

5. I have been too tired and busy since he left

to tell the story. I am at a place where I can rest and reflect so I was planning on doing a post about it. It was obnoxious from the moment we left the car to the moment we left the grounds. Unbelievable.

I have the video and I have some photos but since we had to hold our flags I did not get many and they are probably not good. I have no pictures from afterwards at my house. He got out of the car, out of his uniform and asked if he could be in a no picture place. I honored that but I really had a hard time not taking pictures of him out on my pond in the paddle boat yelling Wooo Hoooo! A really fine young man.

More later.

[Sirveri]

6. I guess it's a good thing they didn't show up armed this time.

I'm sure we can expect all armed members of tea party rallies in Kansas to be detained, with police weapons drawn, and tasered if they make even the slightest murmur of discontent.

[Cid_B]

7. Shouldn't that be Mr. Choi?

[Tx4obama]

9. Not sure who he is right now ....

Yesterday he said he was MLK
earlier today he said he is Bradley Manning.

http://twitter.com/ltdanchoi

p.s. Maybe we should start a pot and guess who he will be next :)

[Cid_B]

10. What a tool...

Good plan genius... associating yourself with a traitorous sack of shit...

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MineralMan]

12. Tool? Got mirror?

Feh!

[baldguy]

13. MLK was a traitor?

Who knew?!?!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

17. Well, what are you going to do if people insist on saying and typing ''Lt. Dan Choi''?

Hold your breath until you turn blue?

Oh, and a (not really) unrelated question: what about the recent legislative news in NY, uh?

[Cid_B]

18. Ummm...

I may make a note of it if I respond on another point... I may not...

What else would you suggest?

As far as NY goes I'm pleased that the process went through the legislature as opposed to the courts. I still prefer the idea of popular vote but it is a good start.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

19. I'm pleased at how pleased you are.

Which means, I'm pleased that you are PISSED about this, you homophobe. Choke on your bigotry. You're not fooling anyone, you stupid asshole right-winger. Oh, and DADT is going to go away for good. FOESADIAF. Troll.

[Shagbark Hickory]

14. Welcome home Heros that fight for our country... Now put your hands behind your back. nt.

[jwirr]

16. Hmmm, 4th of July parades are coming up - are the police going to

confiscate all the flags in the hands of the viewers? This is the most ridiculous thing I have heard yet.

What is the proper way to hold a flag of distress in your hands. I know you fly it upside down but if you do not have a pole?