Honolulu "chalks" one up for free speech

Last week marked the anniversary of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (So that's where the WMD were! :evilgrin: ) Not in Our Name had people chalking peace messages on sidewalks at various locations in Honolulu. Chalking has long been believed to be perfectly legal here... but despite the remote Pacific location, this IS still Bush*'s and Asskkkroft's America...

http://starbulletin.com/2003/08/12/news/index5.html

The city prosecutor's office will dismiss criminal property damage charges today against a 27-year-old protester who wrote in chalk on a downtown Honolulu sidewalk last week, said spokesman Jim Fulton yesterday afternoon....

"The problem was, the police report did not specify what the medium was, if it was nonerasable," Fulton said late yesterday. "We didn't know at the time (that it was chalk). We've subsequently checked. ... If it was paint, it could have been a chargeable offense."

Blanco and a 17-year-old girl were arrested Wednesday afternoon while demonstrating against weapons of mass destruction with the anti-war group Not in Our Name-Hawaii. The group also remembered the victims of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by drawing body outlines and writing slogans in chalk.

"Didn't know" it was chalk and not paint? Sorry, Mr. Fulton, Bush* already has his speechwriters for next year's State of the Union!

Not in Our Name sent out an e-mail yesterday stating that: the charges HAVE been dropped (Yay!), plus, they ccelebrated with a "chalk-in" outside Honolulu Hale (pronounced "HAH-lay", it means 'house', thus, City Hall)

So, it turns out that the sidewalks of Honolulu are a First Amendment Zone (TM) after all! Ever since we hosted the Asian Development Bank meeting a couple of years ago, complete with Federal anti-dissent training for HPD, the jackboot-steps have been getting louder and louder. During the Iraq war (Bush* said it's over, so it's over :-) ), another NION activist had her bike confiscated by HPD after an altercation!

And finally, the S-B's righteous editorial cartoonist, Corky Trinidad, weighs in: