Video: “This used to be America!” “It ain’t no more, okay?”
posted at 6:52 pm on August 28, 2009 by Allahpundit
Lots of outrageously outraged e-mails flowing in about this, although it’s interesting to me mainly as a First Amendment curio. The footage comes from Jim Moran’s health-care town hall on Tuesday night. The question: Can a congressman bar signs, or certain types of signs, from an event at which he’s speaking? The answer (and the ambiguity) turns, I assume, on whether the event is “public” or “private.” It’s a public school and Moran is very much a public official, but recall that Claire McCaskill evidently got away with imposing a “no signs” policy at her own town hall where the incident with the Rosa Parks poster happened. That makes me think either there’s some sort of public/private wrinkle to these meetings that we’re missing or that banning signs is valid as a “time, place, or manner” restriction on certain forms of speech. But if that’s so, why does the guard here seem to distinguish between signs with images on them and signs that are text-only? Help me, constitutional scholars and law-school grads, you’re my only hope!
The sign itself is actually stupid. And the cutesy little caption about FEMA camps doesn’t inspire confidence either.
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Content neutral restriction. Can’t watch this video at the moment, but it doesn’t sound good.
Patrick Ishmael on August 28, 2009 at 6:56 PM
It ain’t no mo.
elduende on August 28, 2009 at 6:56 PM
McCaskill barred signs inside the meeting. This guy was standing outside, on public property, apparently not disrupting the event.
Constitutional rights aside, what’s with the cop and his “This isn’t America” crap?
amerpundit on August 28, 2009 at 6:57 PM
Wesley Cheeks should be thrown in jail. He is a threat to America and doesn’t deserve the benefit of a living in a civilized society – one that he is working to destroy. This is beyond outrageous.
progressoverpeace on August 28, 2009 at 6:58 PM
I dunno. I always figure that, since almost all the cops are Unionized, that whatever the Dems want enforced, is what will be enforced.
AW1 Tim on August 28, 2009 at 6:58 PM
If this ain’t Amerika bro then get out of my face because you ain’t the law…..
Wesley “ass” Cheeks…..needs to be fired.
izoneguy on August 28, 2009 at 6:58 PM
Well at least I completely understand why you guys found the anti-Bush nuts so annoying.
crr6 on August 28, 2009 at 6:58 PM
It ain’t no more…. wow
bazil9 on August 28, 2009 at 6:58 PM
Ugh, the fema camp nonsense?
Might as well started asking for Obama’s birth certificate.
This isn’t helping our cause.
jhffmn on August 28, 2009 at 6:58 PM
Thats bull – that is facism…
izoneguy on August 28, 2009 at 6:58 PM
Wesley Cheeks … Wesley Mouch … coincidence?
progressoverpeace on August 28, 2009 at 7:00 PM
I never wanted the anti-Bushers shut up or denied First Amendment rights. I disagreed with them and considered them loons. But they had the right to protest and assemble.
amerpundit on August 28, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Don’t bank on it. In San Diego County a Deputy went to investigate a noise complaint at a Dem fund raiser. All the grey hairs in the room ended up getting pepper sprayed.
GarandFan on August 28, 2009 at 7:01 PM
Holy effin chit. This ain’t america no mo.
Officer MAY I HAVE YOUR BADGE NUMBER, Please.
Geochelone on August 28, 2009 at 7:01 PM
When they are saying no signs at meetings- are they distinguishing between signs on a wood stake and signs that are just held up by hands? Or is it really picture vs just words?
If so- they are making the argument that a sign can be used as a weapon. I think alot of highschools who have intense rivalries or gang problems use this rule.
The “this ain’t america no mo” has my blood boiling…getting off the computer now.
journeyintothewhirlwind on August 28, 2009 at 7:02 PM
I think the cop had a personal overreaction to the sign, but it wasn’t exactly a tazing, bro.
laelaps on August 28, 2009 at 7:02 PM
I’d rather be Tazed than my rights revoked and have some dumbass tell me that this isn’t America anymore.
amerpundit on August 28, 2009 at 7:03 PM
This is indefensible on its face. So the Troll strategy will be to make a false comparison to something else and debate that.
You can bank on it.
Geochelone on August 28, 2009 at 7:04 PM
Unless there is something indecent about the sign… you can’t allow some signs… then not allow others.
ESPECIALY at a political event.
It would be one thing to disallow ALL signs, so people could see, but when a Cop starts to decide which signs are allowed based on content? Problems…
Romeo13 on August 28, 2009 at 7:04 PM
God……….have we come to this in just 7 short months……buy your guns and ammo fast and hide in the closet until Team Obama knocks for you and says “Come on out with your hands up to go to Camp Pelosi”
Cinday Blackburn on August 28, 2009 at 7:04 PM
They requested (enforced) no signs at our local town hall. It was apparently an issue of signs blocking the view of attendees and the television cameras. There were signs outside before the event, though.
SheofTwoMinds on August 28, 2009 at 7:04 PM
I think it’s time for a beer summit.
portlandon on August 28, 2009 at 7:05 PM
Sounds like the picture is what offends Wesley Cheeks.
fourdeucer on August 28, 2009 at 7:05 PM
What that un-American cop did was 10000% worse than a tazing. Cheeks need to sit in jail for a very long time.
progressoverpeace on August 28, 2009 at 7:05 PM
Hope someone starts a campaign to get this guy fired. I don’t care how looney the protester was. The cop was bang out of line and needs to be gone.
Eisenhorn on August 28, 2009 at 7:05 PM
What would Henry Gates say?
nor on August 28, 2009 at 7:05 PM
the rebel inside, I would of make them arrest me
Conservative Voice on August 28, 2009 at 7:05 PM
The Officer acted STUPIDLY.
Geochelone on August 28, 2009 at 7:06 PM
So…
When do we get to hear Barack Obama address this situation and call the cop “stupid”?
amerpundit on August 28, 2009 at 7:06 PM
What does the above have to do with any Constitutional Principle involved. If schools allow non educational related activities to go on then they can not participate in viewpoint discrimination. SCOTUS has affirmed and reaffirmed that several times.
chemman on August 28, 2009 at 7:07 PM
Geochelone got there first. Dang it.
amerpundit on August 28, 2009 at 7:07 PM
Great minds think alike. I am usually two or three steps behind everyone else; except for Trolls and Rinos.
Geochelone on August 28, 2009 at 7:09 PM
I AM Wesley Checks… Submit to mah authohity!
Romeo13 on August 28, 2009 at 7:10 PM
Right. He said the other signs were ok because they didn’t have pictures. (?!?!?!?!?!?!?!)
Wethal on August 28, 2009 at 7:11 PM
It seems that if this guy had pushed the issue and forced that security guy to either arrest or cite him, well, I think that guard would be looking for a new job. No doubt he will be ‘retrained’ and maybe for this tiny transgression that is ok.
Freddy on August 28, 2009 at 7:11 PM
I’m pretty sure that if it’s your meeting, you can set the rules. Might be dicey if you only allowed in signs that you agree with, so usually all signs are banned.
Bleeds Blue on August 28, 2009 at 7:11 PM
“We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock,…..Plymouth Rock landed on us!!!”?
portlandon on August 28, 2009 at 7:12 PM
Worth sending the police department a link to this video. (Be polite, of course.) Even if they’ve already seen it, it will be good to let them know that this matters to people. Contact info here.
Tzetzes on August 28, 2009 at 7:12 PM
That policy seems fair to me, as it does not place a judgement on content, and it allows everyone there to see what’s going on.
Red State State of Mind on August 28, 2009 at 7:13 PM
I agree. I didn’t say it had to be GOOD beer. Sheesh.
portlandon on August 28, 2009 at 7:13 PM
+1
Tzetzes on August 28, 2009 at 7:13 PM
Wesley Cheeks…..Civilian Defense Force Czar.
csdeven on August 28, 2009 at 7:13 PM
So Wesley Cheeks was personally offended (apparently) by the content of the sign, so he abused the authority of his uniform and demanded that the sign not be shown? Aren’t there laws against the abuse of power?
There are plenty of things the Left has done that deeply offend me but I will support and defend their right to do them as long as they fall within the bounds of free speech.
Wesley Cheeks should lose his job or be put behind a desk where he can’t abuse another person’s right to free speech.
LEBA on August 28, 2009 at 7:13 PM
Yo momma!
Wethal on August 28, 2009 at 7:14 PM
Obambi is in charge now. So this ain’t America no more. :(
poxoma on August 28, 2009 at 7:14 PM
Schools have different first amendment rights? I am not a lawyer, but I think he is wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_in_the_United_States#Schools
conservativegrandma on August 28, 2009 at 7:14 PM
C’mon, AP. A guy asks a cop how he can be charged with trespassing and is met with the retort by the cop of, “If you put it up after I tell you to put it down, I can charge you with whatever I want.” Your take is the intricacies of first amendment wrinkles? Please, just reverse this. Congressman DeMint’s town hall has a black leftist protester with Bush dressed up as a Nazi on it, and a fat white southern cop, in his best Foghorn Leghorn voice tells that black man that he can charge him with whatever he wants, and that this isn’t America no more, do you really think that you would begin the post with a slight scoff at the “outrageously outrageous” e-mails?
Weight of Glory on August 28, 2009 at 7:14 PM
Wesley Cheek is a racist POS
bill30097 on August 28, 2009 at 7:15 PM
is no one offended that wesley says that he’ll arrest the protester for trespassing when there is no trespassing and goes on to say he can arrest him for whatever he wants?! wtf is going on?!
anna on August 28, 2009 at 7:15 PM
re-watched. I have no idea why he couldn’t show the sign outside.
Bleeds Blue on August 28, 2009 at 7:15 PM
That would only be applicable to the inside of the meeting. He wouldn’t be able to ban anything outside the meeting room.
chemman on August 28, 2009 at 7:15 PM
By that reasoning they could have written him a tardy slip for being late to class as well. When a school is being used for a civic event then I don’t believe the rules for students apply.
DFCtomm on August 28, 2009 at 7:15 PM
Where is there a lawyer who will sue fascist Wesley “Ass” Cheeks
bill30097 on August 28, 2009 at 7:16 PM
I’d honestly like to see the more of what happened here than this short clip…Who knows what went on before the camera rolled.
In any event, even FEMA camp troofer nutballs have the right to free speech. Unless the officer had good reason to suspect the sign might, for instance, start a riot, I don’t see what’s wrong with it.
I mean, heck…even the Nazis were allowed to march in Skokie. But of course, they were prepared for any violence.
Not so much here.
JetBoy on August 28, 2009 at 7:16 PM
I’d tell that cop to kiss my ass, but I don’t want to risk contaminating my ass with fascist cooties.
Bruce in NH on August 28, 2009 at 7:16 PM
Wesley Cheeks jr…….America’s new face of ignorance
galtg on August 28, 2009 at 7:16 PM
This is the new America, where rules and laws can be made up on the spot. If it goes against the Obama Admin. This is the New Way.
Cop should be Fired.
americaslaststand on August 28, 2009 at 7:17 PM
Where is this?? Does anyone have an email we can contact about this???
reshas1 on August 28, 2009 at 7:17 PM
It can be constitutional to restrict speech for time, manner 9size, sound) or place considerations for public order.
Not for content. Unless you’re dealing with obscenity, which, apparently to Officer Cheeks, is in the eye of the beholder.
Wethal on August 28, 2009 at 7:17 PM
. Now you sound like Beck and Paul Revere.
We are supposed to sit down, reach across the aisle and reason with the Thought Police and the British while they continue to violate the constitution at every turn, doncha know. /sarc
Geochelone on August 28, 2009 at 7:17 PM
one ‘bro covering for another ‘bro.
I wonder if they have a separate union for black officers there, like they do in Cincy.
Yeah, this vid needs to go viral, and his superiors need some hard questions put to them.
CPT. Charles on August 28, 2009 at 7:17 PM
Call me a raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacist, but this looks pretty obviouslt to me like an Obama-loving cop getting his authori-tay on at the expense of some folks he doesnt need to explain himself to “no more”
Hope and Change!!!
Mike D. on August 28, 2009 at 7:17 PM
You can tell that the guy isn’t breaking any laws because Wesley Cheeks can’t give him a reason for why he can’t hold up a sign when others can. I could say that this is scary, but to me it seems like an isolated event in which one Black officer took personal offense to the sign of a protester. The cop was wrong, but I’m not concerned about the police in our country being Obama brownshirts…yet.
GrammarPolice on August 28, 2009 at 7:18 PM
Oooooh, because it has apicture.
Cindy Munford on August 28, 2009 at 7:18 PM
Question:
If the police officer was WHITE and the protester BLACK-Jesse Jackson was in Boston and Al Sharpton was in NY, but his cell phone died….which race hustler would be in Reston, VA protesting the police station first?
HornetSting on August 28, 2009 at 7:18 PM
How can you try and characterize people in that way after having watched this video? I mean, really.
progressoverpeace on August 28, 2009 at 7:19 PM
Free speech rights are limited, as I understand it (how’s that for a qualifier?), in a school when it’s in session. Obviously, there’s a need for order in classrooms and disruptive speech (shirts, signs, et cetera) can prevent the education process from occurring.
School wasn’t in session so those limits are meaningless.
Otherwise, any limits or bans on signs – other than for safety reasons – must be content neutral. That is, they can’t ban anti-Obama signs but let pro-Obama signs in.
Unless the officer can point to a safety concern, he’s got no grounds, it seems to me, for preventing a private citizen from bringing in a sign at a public event held on a public facility (remember that Presidential addresses are often/usually private events).
On the other hand, I could be just full of it.
Perhaps Eugene Volokh over at the Volokh Conspiracy will opine on this.
SteveMG on August 28, 2009 at 7:20 PM
Schools do when students are in session. SCOTUS has allowed the reasonable restriction of Student and Staff free speech to maintain an orderly learning environment.
What happens after school is out when the school board allowed a non-school related public meeting to take place on school grounds changes what is allowed. At this point 1st amendment rights are fully enforceable. The Cop screwed up royally and the ignoramus trying to quote SCOTUS should be flogged.
chemman on August 28, 2009 at 7:20 PM
They would probably cuff us together and we could sing “We Shall Overcome” or “Signs”.
thomasaur on August 28, 2009 at 7:21 PM
You ask why the guy can’t put up his sign. Simple. Because Obambi said so. To paraphrase Dorothee: I don’t think I am in
KansasAmerica no more. :(poxoma on August 28, 2009 at 7:21 PM
Many people were left outside when the school filled to capacity. School security officer Wesley Cheeks, Jr. did not like my anti-Obamacare poster which used one of the gone-viral “Joker” graphics.
When I said to Officer Cheeks, “This used to be America!” his response was: “It ain’t no more, OK?”
From Citizen Wells website.
fourdeucer on August 28, 2009 at 7:22 PM
+1
Well said.
Fish on August 28, 2009 at 7:22 PM
It wasn’t just any pichur; it was a pichur of the Obamunist. That is strictly verboten.
Geochelone on August 28, 2009 at 7:22 PM
And it looks scaaaaaaaaary. Hey, if it’s a good enough excuse for the Marzist liberals to restrict our second amendment rights, why not our free speech rights also?
csdeven on August 28, 2009 at 7:22 PM
You’re not. I am a recovering Public School teacher. We went through yearly training on this very issue. The district tried to stay current on SCOTUS rulings.
chemman on August 28, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Omg, ROFL. Classic.
GrammarPolice on August 28, 2009 at 7:23 PM
I wonder what flag Wesley Cheeks Jr. pledges to?
just-j on August 28, 2009 at 7:24 PM
Like the Muhammad cartoons?
csdeven on August 28, 2009 at 7:24 PM
“This used to be America!” “It ain’t no more, okay?”
“You are about to be ruled by the black man cracker”
I see no difference between the two. One thug had a badge and a billy club and the other thug just had a billy club.
Wethal on August 28, 2009 at 7:24 PM
A big red flag with CYA on it.
chemman on August 28, 2009 at 7:25 PM
But AP didn’t like the sign, so your point is moot. /s
portlandon on August 28, 2009 at 7:25 PM
If the officer had been white and protester had been black who would have arrived first Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson? Al boards a plane on the west coast 3102 miles away traveling at 250 knots with a 35 knot headwind, or Jesse on the east coast 785 miles away traveling in a Limo at 70 mph.
DFCtomm on August 28, 2009 at 7:25 PM
Been characterizing them that way for years. Or should I say, they do it to themselves.
Anyway, wasn’t The One a constitutional law professor once? Maybe he can hold a “joker” summit.
JetBoy on August 28, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Schools have certain authority over STUDENTS when acting on Loco Parentis… which is where they derive their ability to limit STUDENTS Free Speech.
Guy was NOT a student, therefore no Loco Parentis, thus school rules don’t apply, which is why the Cop was threatening his arrest for Trespassing… ie… he shouldn’t be on school grounds as the ONLY thing that could possibly stick.
Problem is, that he was not trespassing as he was at a public event.
Romeo13 on August 28, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Here’s a safety concern: Block my view with a sign and I’ll punch your face.
Blake on August 28, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Eric Holder just called said Cheeks is “good to go”.
HoustonRight on August 28, 2009 at 7:26 PM
That cop should turn in his badge for abusing his power.
http://www.culcom.net/~lake/policecodeofethics.html
jaboba on August 28, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Everyone had better just get used to this kind of public servant attitude. With or without a badge, the “I work for the Gov’t and I make the rules” when dealing with citizens has become commonplace. If the “pulbic servant” in question hasn’t any law enforcement reposibilities they can count on LE back-up if you happen to disagree.
This has been the way it is in Chicago for….well, ever! In Chicago if you get into anything with a “public servant” you had just better take it, and be on your way. If not, you are hopefully only going to jail and not the hospital.
A simple Google search will reveal this type of sordid behavior in Chicago is the norm, not the exception. As we now have the White House on Rush street, all Americans will have to adapt to “Chicago sensibilities” now.
Archimedes on August 28, 2009 at 7:27 PM
We don’t like the content of your political speech so we won’t vigorously defend it.
chemman on August 28, 2009 at 7:27 PM
And though it isn’t clear, he might also have been on the public sidewalk, which isn’t really school grounds.
Wethal on August 28, 2009 at 7:27 PM
If someone had burned the American flag or chanted Death to America, it would have been OK with Cheeks?
The arrogance of this idiot cop amazes me
Now we know why they want to take control of internet…too much evidence against them online
macncheez on August 28, 2009 at 7:28 PM
I kinda thought the fema caption was clever.
Useful idiots are only good while they are useful. Once America becomes Obamastan then the useful idiots along with everyone else go to the fema camps.
Hey,, but love that officer of the law! Give the guy a pass though. He held it all in pretty well.
Won’t be long now until he can lose the school security guard outfit and throw on the new super secret mail order Obama SS Civilian Security Force Camo uniform he’s got stashed away. He’s just waiting for that coded signal to come through over Hardball or one of the other major “news outlets”(wink wink). Then, it’s no more Mr. Nice Guy! Just bash the protester’s heads in with that original reproduction Black Panther Philly Poll Sitter Nightstick and throw them in the cattle truck. Cause,, like he said,, it ain’t America no more!
JellyToast on August 28, 2009 at 7:28 PM
A young black protetor carrying an anti Obama sign? No way they’d lift a finger to help nor would “Jesse & Co.” make any effort to make the event public.
conservativecaveman on August 28, 2009 at 7:28 PM
Somewhere between 1 in 5 and 1 in 3 Americans cannot identify the US on a world map. Not making excuses for this jamoke but it is probable, maybe even highly likely, that he is among that select group of morons and that he took an oath to uphold the constitution and really has no idea what the constitution is. I think his response that he would charge the protester with anything he wants to is an attestation to that. A bigger issue is that someone has seen fit to allow this goof to carry a firearm.
Of course, I could be wrong and he could be just another Obama-loving prick.
yobobbyb on August 28, 2009 at 7:28 PM
Dah man ain’t in chawge no mo, yo.
SouthernGent on August 28, 2009 at 7:29 PM
Good point…
Romeo13 on August 28, 2009 at 7:29 PM
Obama did say “Just Words!!!”
This whole no picture arguement by the cop is ridiculous. Especially since Obama uses a symbol instead of his name for everything from healthcare to the the dogs food dish.
portlandon on August 28, 2009 at 7:29 PM
I am sure the poster board was highly flammable and toxic and was not made of eco-friendly material. People could have gotten a rash from exposure (an expensive Heath Care Concern) and it certainly could cause global warming once it was displayed.
This isn’t America anymore, its Goreland.
Geochelone on August 28, 2009 at 7:29 PM
i can see what McCaskil did because it was a blanket “No Signs” Policy that covered everyone. Like the guy in the video pointed out everyone else had a sign but only he was being harassed.
The cop was a moron trying use the idea of”School Time” rights, as in what a student can wear to class or other things that could be a disruption to the great good, with a function that them becomes an open public forum. Its in the same sense that if School is in session in a public school I can’t just go in and wander the halls as I please but if its opened to the full public then I can go in.
The Cop, or was he even a cop? he looked like a shitty old security guard, got it right though, he thinks he’s the shit now that his boy is Pres and that things are going to change.
Rbastid on August 28, 2009 at 7:29 PM
Officer learned from the Cambridge incident that he only has to arrest the guy for free beer.
thomasaur on August 28, 2009 at 7:30 PM
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