You better not exercise your constitutional rights to free speech and protest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, especially if you are an ex-marine, firefighter and supporter of Governor Scott Walker attending a rally for Democrat gubernatorial candidate Thomas Barrett, hosted by Bill "Slick Willy" Clinton.
It's plain to see whose side the police are on in this case. The police have obviously overstepped their legal authority and it's really evident in the video below. The former USMC veteran, a pro Walker supporter, was in a crowd of Barrett supporters. He was carrying a typical sized poster commonly seen at rallies around the country and no larger than any of the posters carried by Barrett supporters.
It should be remembered that the Wisconsin police unions are supporting Barret in the Tuesday gubernatorial recall election even though police and firemen are exempt from the limitations placed on Wisconsin public sector unions in the collective bargaining process. The police action was clearly illegal, as Milwaukee PD used the color of their authority to violate Dave Willoughby's constitutional rights under the 1st Amendment.
This is more than shameful, It portends dark days for the future of law enforcement in Wisconsin. When police overstep the bounds of their authority to clearly shutdown opposition to a political candidate that they support, our nation is in deep trouble. The Milwaukee police, rather than protecting the constitutional rights of a peaceful political protester, have arbitrarily shut down protest they do no agree with. Watch the full video below and make your own determination if this peaceful protest deserved to be silenced.
MRC
[...] According to the police citation, (which Dave Willoughby read over the phone) “During a political rally, subject raised a protest sign above his head in a manner that created danger to the public. Subject’s actions caused a disturbance during a political rally.” The citation carries a $185 fine and has a July court date.
Mr. Willoughby is not in jail, but says that he will fight the citation on the grounds that he did absolutely nothing wrong and was exercising his free speech rights. Willoughby served in the United States Marine Corps from 1992 to 2000 and was honorably discharged. He was also a firefighter for 10 years in the state of Florida. Willoughby says that his time as a non-union firefighter has led him to suspect that the Wisconsin police officers may be acting as union members first and police officers second. [...]
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