Have you ever witnessed something that was technically "illegal" but the response by officials and police was so extreme that you found it morally repugnant? The first thing you may think of is the protests after the election in Iran. We admire the stand these brave people make in the name of Democracy. This afternoon at our very own Lake Eola we saw how little tolerance our town of Orlando has for evil people who trespass into the amphitheater at Lake Eola. An organization staged a little performance art on the stage following directions from their MP3 players. They danced and ran, opened umbrellas and did other silly things. It was quite amusing. Suddenly a furious park official appeared and then three more walkie-talkie guys in uniform showed up yelling and demanding the deviant artists get lost. Amidst the chaos the performance continued until finally they decamped to the grass outside the amphitheater. Turns out these threats to the security of the city beautiful are a group who was doing a spontaneous performance to raise awareness of their evil cause--raising money for school supplies for disadvantaged children.
Three police officers and later the angry ranger said that although he believed in education that he could have the police arrest them all. I walk around Lake Eola every day and have never seen a ranger much less four. I bet they were ticked about having to leave their air conditioned office. I realize the police were doing their tough job but the apoplectic ranger was a joke. How dare you not obey me in my park? Oops, I mean the taxpayer's park. They didn't arrest anyone but did write up the organizer and gave her a warrant that forbids her from entering the park for a year. So I understand that they were trespassing as were Tom and I were in the seats. So the question is, just how free are we anyway? I'll have to email someone in Iraq for a second opinion on that one.
Related: Activists or Anarchists? Thomas Thorspecken