Man with “Impeach Obama” sign assaulted by security at Alaska State Fair

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• For those who don't know, Lyndon LaRouche is a repeated Democrat Presidential candidate. This sign and other such as the one that depicts Obama as Hitler are LaRouche's' handiwork and he gets people to bring this signs to teaparty's in and attempt to discredit teapartiers. Here's the one with Obama as Hitler and the teaparty's response.

  http://biggovernment.com/amarcus/2010/09/24/video-912-tea-partiers-reject-obama-as-hitler-comparison/#more-172421

  • Yes, what you say is true, and it grinds on anybody with common sense to defend a LaRouche nutjob, but that's the onus on any cvilization which attempts to maintain free speech. Even the nutjobs must have the right to speak freely.

    • True, but I think there is more to the story. This video seems to start in the middle of the confrontation. What happended prior to this part that promted secirity to ask him to leave? I think he wanted to provoke an attack on himself.

      • Yeah, I'm sure he wanted to provoke something. It reminds me of the yelling street preachers - you've probably seen one. We used to have one here in Reno. He didn't stand directly in front of the big active casinos. He stood across the street from them. He was loud, but he wasn't dangerous or interfering with anything, and lately he's been gone and I find that I miss him for some reason.

• Where's the ACLU?!?!?

  • They don't give a crap about the rights of Americans unless they hate America. Then they care.

• It was horrible to see them hurting him when he said he was disabled and that he wanted to get up because he was in pain. This brutal display of macho behavior is disgusting and if I was that guy I would sue.

• But if this guy had been protesting Bush and been a liberal, the liberals would be "outraged", now..not so much.

• Assuming a degree of rationality on his part, he may have thought that something called the "Alaska State Fair" was a government-sponsored event and, therefore, the First Amendment applied. Like, for example, you couldn't (presumably) put the Alaska State Legislature on private property and then say the grounds were exempt from the exercise of constitutional rights.

• Scratch beneath the surface of the story that the video cannot show you...

  I link here to this incident as reported by the Anchorage Daily News. Please note the paragraphs which state:
  1)The fair is on private property, owned by the non-profit Alaska State Fair Inc. If people want to deliver a political message -- on abortion or Pebble Mine, for example -- they're expected to rent a booth and follow vendor guidelines
  2)Hill (the suspect) also possessed a handgun, which is not allowed on the fairgrounds

  http://www.adn.com/2010/08/27/1428432/statement-scuffle-caught-on-video.html

  This guy did not rent space as other exhibitors did on that *private property*. Do I think the security guards manhandled the old coot a little too much? Yes, but they are trained to subdue suspects as if they are armed, which this guy was. Before anyone jumps on me about RKBA, please note I am CCH in Texas and follow the law. There *are* areas I am not allowed to carry. That said, note that in the video there are dozens of bystanders who could have been victims of any kind of shootout. I'm just glad the story was about an old fart getting arrested as opposed to a child getting shot at the State Fair.

  • You comment reeks of the problems that are plaguing this nation.

    If that property is truely private, then there would be a fence around it. It would have a gate in which the public enters and it would be understood by a common man that this is private property.

    IN that case, somebody at the gate or entrance area would have informed the man, that his sign was not welcome, as are any signs. All people entering would know that firearms are not allowed on this property.

    Instead, all of this is revealed after the fact, as a way to once again, make the victim out to be the criminal, and the jackbooted thugs to be the ones "just doing their job".

    This entire mentality needs to stop. Common sense says that this guy is just a crackpot voicing his opinion. Good for him. It's legal to be a crackpot and express your opinion. Freedoms not used are soon lost forever.

    If that was indeed private property, it would seem that the entire crowd wasn't aware of this because they at least verbally agreed that he had a right to be there.

    Somebody may own that Property. When it comes down to it, what property isn't own in 2010? Everything is owned by somebody. What the fair grounds are is a Public Place. If that man had a "Re-Elect Obama in 2010" banner, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

    Publius

    • I stand by my argument. Private property, even when used by members of the public, is subject to certain restrictions at the discretion of the property owner. They made it clear that all exhibitors, including those with political messages needed to register and rent space. This guy did not, was told to leave, and when he failed to comply, was promptly arrested.

      Let's put this another way...would you let some stranger come onto your driveway (that you own) and start spouting some political or religious message? Not me. I would politely tell him to leave, and if he didn't, I would call the police to have him removed from *my* private property.

      • Private property open to the public is subject to different laws than simple private property. And private property leased to hold a state government function - THE ALASKA STATE FAIR - is subject to even different laws. I can tell you not to wear an Obama T-shirt in my house because I don't like Obama, but WalMart can only make general rules about what T-shirts are allowed, and WalMart holding a state fair cannot make any rules about what T-shirts are allowed.

    • To Publius:

      I am guessing you've never been to the Alaska State Fair. It IS fully enclosed by a tall chain-link fence, with three gates that Fairgoers can enter through. However, among the people who come through the gates are often vendors carrying signage. This was opening day of the Fair, and there were still banners being placed on booths, so it is understandable how he could have walked in with the sign.

      There ARE signs at each gate prohibiting firearms, but do you think that would make someone carrying a concealed weapon for his own reasons speak up and say he had it, or go put it in his car?

      Thankfully for the rest of Alaskans the Fair hasn't started doing weapon searches at the gates, they just expect that people are here to have a good time and behave appropriately. Hopefully Mr. Hill's actions won't cause the policy to change, and make the rest of us have to suffer through long entry lines with body searches.

      The Fairgrounds is accessible to the public, however as a privately owned business they are completely within their rights to remove anyone using disruptive or dangerous behavior from the grounds, for the safety and well-being of the rest of the attendees. This man was not quietly standing with a sign, he was interrupting a scheduled performance with rude and loud remarks. He was offered the option of a vendor booth, the same as all other political groups who want to make their views known to the public at Fairtime during the Fair, but that wasn't his purpose -- his sole purpose was to create a huge scene, get it videotaped, get it on the internet, and get a lot of people talking about a police state. Congratulations on helping him achieve his goal! Feel better?

      AlaskaGirl

      • “There ARE signs at each gate prohibiting firearms…”

        Do you have a picture of those signs? Because when you have a permit to carry the gun, only private property with signs can prevent you from carrying it. I see here a long video at the ALASKA STATE FAIR of a man being manhandled for exercising his free speech rights. To counteract that you need evidence of equal stature, which means pictures of the signs and some kind of evidence that he was interfering with the fair. From what I saw, he wasn’t interfering with anything except a bunch of people walking by, and most of them were on his side.

• That ever happen when Bush was president and all the REALLY nasty things said on signs and by liberals in government? Time to lynch that piece of sht so called president, commie thats in office, and those fat slob security PIGS.

• In my recent dealings, I've found that anyone wearing a shirt that says "Security" thinks that they are cops, and can do whatever they want. At 4:43, the "State Trooper" flashes a badge, and says, "Do you want to go to jail?" Here's what my friends in Alaska need to do- Find out if that jackhole was actually a state trooper, and if he isn't, arrest him for impersonating an officer of the law. Why do I get a feeling SEIU is somehow involved in this? And of course, not a peep on CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, or ABC.

• how is this treatment of a man doing nothing more than displaying his opinion of a political leader getting manhandled by a couple of rental moron tough guys any different than midnight invasions into homes by the Shinning Light? how far are we from a police state? ICE can write a search warrant on the spot and if you tell anyone you can be arrested? that individual that flashed his badge should be found, and tried for terrorism, and the two slobs should be on the national highway system in orange jumpsuits picking up trash.

• This clip has been around for a few weeks, he is a LaRouche supporter which means Obama is too far to the right for his political views. I am sure the LaRouche group is the same group that draws Hitler mustaches on Palin.