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"ACLU Sues City of Tampa for Violating Protestors' Free Speech Rights at a Bush Rally at Legend's Field"
December 2002 Edition of the ACLU of Florida Newsletter
For community activist Mauricio Rosas, the thought of getting arrested for peacefully sharing his discontent with U.S. President George W. Bush never crossed his mind.
"I knew it was a public rally and I knew that I had the right to be there as long as I was peaceful and respectful," said Rosas, a 38-year-old Tampa activist.
His rude awakening came on June 4, 2001, when he was hauled off Legend's Field in handcuffs, charged with trespassing and ordered to appear in court for carrying a small, handheld sign that read: "June is Gay Pride Month."
He was arrested, along with grandmothers Jan Lentz and Sonja Haught, during a rally organized last year for President Bush and Florida Governor Jeb Bush.
Although all three of the protestors had tickets to attend the public rally, they were approached shortly after entering the stadium by security personnel who demanded, "Lose the sign and you can stay." Security personnel at no point asked the other rally attendees to remove their signs, which for the most part were favorable to the President and Governor.
When the three protestors declined to give up their signs, they were led down a tunnel to the basement of the stadium, where they were held for several hours before being charged criminally.
On November 1, the ACLU's Tampa Chapter filed a lawsuit against Tampa officials for civil rights violations stemming from the wrongful arrest of all three protestors. According to the suit, the police officers removing the protestors were overly aggressive.
The officers removing Lentz from the field used Lentz's body as a shield to force her way through the crowd. In doing so, Lentz was pushed onto an 81-year-old man. The man suffered lacerations to his head and other injuries requiring medical treatment.
"It was pretty brutal," said Lentz, the 56-year-old grandmother who also was dragged off the field in handcuffs by local and federal law enforcement officers. She carried a sign that read "Investigate Florida Votergate," demanding an investigation into Florida's 2000 election fiasco. "We weren't exactly 20-year-old rabble rousers. Our intention was to come down there to register our disapproval of the President in a totally peaceful way."
The lawsuit, filed in the Tampa Division of U.S. District Court, seeks damages and other sanctions against the city on behalf of protestors Lentz, Haught and Rosas.
"The protestors were entitled ? just like the hundreds of other people at the rally ? to lawfully exercise their free speech rights, but they were arrested in an attempt to silence them and shield the government from criticism," said ACLU cooperating attorney W.F. "Casey" Ebsary, Jr. of Tampa. In addition to Ebsary, the ACLU cooperating attorneys litigating this case are Will Knight and Luke Lirot, also of Tampa.
