Bank of America Protest Draws Preemptive Crackdown
The city of Charlotte, N.C., has announced broad restrictions on protests planned for a May 9 Bank of America shareholders meeting, citing safety concerns. The restrictions are prompting fears that constitutionally protected civil liberties may be suppressed, and that the preemptive bans for demonstrators could serve as a preview of the city’s tactics when it hosts September’s Democratic National Convention.
Charlotte City Manager Curt Walton said Monday that citizens would be banned from carrying a host of commonplace items, including bicycle helmets, padlocks and permanent markers, along with weapons, mace, pepper spray and pipe. The rules also ban any animals that are not part of an official parade or working as service animals during the protest. Since violation of the ban within a designated protest area would be considered grounds for arrest, local citizens could be jailed for simply walking their dogs on May 9. Anyone carrying a backpack or a briefcase with the intent to hide any prohibited items can also be searched or arrested, as can anyone wearing a scarf or a mask with the intent to hide her identity.
“How does law enforcement know that you’re carrying a backpack with the intent to conceal weapons? . . . It doesn’t seem like it’s possible for police to divine that intent,” said Katy Parker, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina. “That’s our concern, because then you have unfettered discretion on the part of law enforcement, and that’s unconstitutional.”
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North Carolina is a very corrupt state. Mecklenburg County and Union County (the two counties I am familiar with), are owned by Bank of America, and I have been told even the N.C. Bar Association has an unwritten rule to attorney’s to stay away from foreclosure defense cases.
Bank of America could not get away with it, without their enablers; the accessories to their criminal activities, the Clerk of Courts, the Register of Deeds and the Superior Court Judges in Mecklenburg and Union County. It is the biggest transfer of American land and wealth to foreign entities, and four more years of Obama or four years of Romney will be the final nail in America’s coffin.
We are losing our rights daily. When taxpayer money is taken, confiscated to protect big banking, ignoring their greed, criminal activity, lack of transparency in perpetrating the destruction of the US and global economy the handwriting was already on the wall in the crash. We live in a plutocracy where both parties are beholden and infilitrated by Corporate Wall Street, banking interests above those of the people.
It will now take civil disobedience on a major scale to counter the loss. However, as in other countries where people sit and do nothing, allowing themselves to be influenced that it isn’t their problem, they can do nothing to counter, or their complacency is greater than their outrage, we will continue to fall. The problem is that you and I are concerned about losing rights. The couch potatoes are saying, “what’s the problem” as long as I have my beer, couch and TV, everything’s gonna be awright!
America has become complacent, dumbed down, hoodwinked. The situation will have to deteriorate too the point of act or die before sufficient numbers rise up in their angst against the banks and our government who is protecting them!
We are allowing this to happen in the bigger picture because there is no common outrage to losing our right to protest.
Is it too late? Where is the ACLU when you need them, the Ralph Naders, etc?????
Slowly but surely we sink into a militarized country. If it isn’t over-zealous police who disregard basic rights – its cameras or drones flying overhead violating your privacy. I swear, we’ll soon be living a real life “Minority Report”.
AmeriKa has come home, I think there is more freedom in China now
Normally, prescedence is set in small towns before they hit the larger cities!!!mMMMM
Hey, Charlotte City Manager Curt Walton. Wake the fuck up! Who the HELL do you think you are, protecting Criminals? Let me give you the obvious desission here, ya dumbass. Fix the probelem!
None of us would be here protesting if you would do you fucking JOB! Jail the CA– USE and we will have no effect.! See, dumbass, very simple.
“Fight The Good Fight”
Every Minute, Every Day!
You see? It’s a comin’!!!!! Little by little taking away our constitutional rights!! How much longer will we, as a people protected under the constitution, allow such total disregard and abuse of our rights? Huh????