Update:

March 20, 2004
7:30 PM

I just got off the phone with Ken Hudson. Ken had this to say about his arrest earlier today: Ken says that he was at Courthouse Park preparing for the arrival of the marchers when he noticed a Freeper who goes by the name of “At Bay.” At Bay was going up to event participants and engaging them in hostile conversations. Ken said that At Bay appeared to be attempting to provoke people and he (Ken) called the sheriff. Ken was concerned that At Bay was going to get into a violent confrontation with someone.

The Sheriff arrived and talked to Ken for about 10 minutes. During that time At Bay tried to intervene in the conversation several times. Each time he (At Bay) was told to back off by the sheriff’s deputy. Deputy Garringer then went to talk with At Bay. They were standing in front of the Peace Fresno banner, just to the side of the main stage.

It was at this time that the anti-war marchers began to arrive for the rally. Ken says he went over to Deputy Garringer and At Bay and suggested they move from the stage area so the “permitted” rally could begin. Garringer told Ken to back off. Ken took several steps back. He held the permit in his hand and said again that Peace Fresno had a permit to hold a rally here today and asked them to move from in front of the stage area. That is when Ken was arrested.

There was some confusion about the charges with some officers saying Ken had been arrested because of a private citizens complaint. Ken says that he repeatedly asked what he was being charged with. Ultimately they charged him with “resisting a police officer.”

This is a picture of At Bay talking with the deputy sheriffs about 15 minutes after the arrest. When they were done talking they shook hands and At Large returned to his work of disrupting the crowd. He told one peace activist that he was there to monitor and photograph the criminals and anti-American scum that attend these events.

Yes, the Freepers are getting very aggressive. This is the second incident this week involving Freepers invading progressives' space in Fresno.

A gentleman who occasionally posts on the local progressive webblog or maillist became very exercised about PF's claim against Fresno County this week and revealed himself to be a Freeper. In the past, his comments were so off the road that I wondered about his mental health, but it turned out he was simply a Freeper.

From the rhetoric I'd read on the Free Republic site, they are becoming much more aggressive (and dangerous?) towards the progressive community. There was much talk of dark plots planned for the March 20th demonstrations around the country, including hints of "dirty tricks" and violence.

Here locally, I've been told PF didn't score points with the tort claim. So, the Sheriff's Department isn't going to bend over backwards defending a group that may sue them. It's not right, but that's the real world. Law enforcement is rarely sympathetic with groups/people who they consider outside the mainstream, and PF is considered to be that by much of the Fresno community.

I wouldn't go as far as to say the Sheriff's Department is in cahoots with Free Republic, but the Freepers and many individual cops share many common values, including "political Christian" values.

And, they're NOT a hate group?

that clear face shots of all the Freepers were published, along with their real names, home addresses and license plate numbers. If they have nothing to hide, they wont mind. Au contrair, they’ll be proud to be known as real American patriots who aren’t afraid to stand up in public for what they believe in.

Jordan Burns took this picture as Ken was arrested.

Law enforcement and the Fresno Sheriff's Department, in particular, lost another round at the Fresno anti-war demonstration on March 20. Law enforcement officers can only be effective when they are respected by the majority of citizens. The behavior of the officers at the Peace Demonstration in arresting Ken Hudson and in dealing with the crowd was ridiculous. They lost the respect of everyone there, and most were not members of Peace Fresno.

I can't wait until I'm called to jury duty again and am asked my opinion of police officers. They will probably never let me serve on a jury again, at least not on a case that involves law enforcement.

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There has been some discussion in the community about why Ken was arrested yesterday. Is this a plot by the Fresno Sheriff's department to threaten and intimidate Peace Fresno? Is it retaliation for the legal action Peace Fresno has filed claiming that the sheriff's department violated their civil liberties when they infiltrated the group last year?

My opinion:

I believe that the arrest was unjustified and could be an attempt to further threaten and intimidate Peace Fresno and anyone who participates in an anti-war rally or demonstration. The fact is that Ken DID step back when told to do so by deputy Garringer. Garringer told Ken to “back off.” He did not tell Ken to leave courthouse park, the City of Fresno, or the planet. He just told Ken to back off. Ken was justified in asking deputy Garringer to move because they (the freeper and Garringer) were standing front and center of where the rally was going to take place. Ken was just showing the deputy that Peace Fresno had a permit to hold the rally and that they were about to begin. When told to “back off,” that is exactly what Ken did. He backed off.

Now, I find it interesting that At Bay, the freeper who started this incident, came up to deputy Garringer and Ken several times when they were talking (this was before Ken was arrested). Deputy Garringer told At Bay to “back off.” At Bay continued to approach Ken and Garringer and at one point was told to back off 3 times before leaving. Garringer did NOT arrest At Bay.

It is also interesting to note that At Bay and the sheriffs where seen after the arrest talking and shaking hands after Ken’s arrest.

The arrest of Ken is troubling to me because it was unprovoked. Also, I believe that when someone gets arrested at an anti-war event, under these circumstances, it will make some people less likely to participate in the future. They don’t want to be threatened by some guy like At Bay and run the risk of being arrested if they complain about the harassment.

I find it shocking that Ken would be arrested after calling law enforcement to warn them that someone from the Free Republic was harassing Peace Fresno participants at a permitted rally. What is the message the sheriff’s department is sending here? What effect will this have on future events?

A side note about At Bay - several people have identified At Bay as the freeper who gropped a young women at the demonstration in Fresno a few months ago when activists were protesting George Bush’s appearance in this community. Several people confronted At Bay after the incident and it is reported that he made an obscene gesture to one of the women. At Bay was coming up to participants at yesterday’s march/rally and insulting them and cursing. Ken was right to have called law enforcement and asked them to provide protection so we could exercise our First Amendment rights to Free Speech.

I was just reading about what happened to the leader of the Fresno Anti-war Rally this weekend.

These Trouble-making, Law-Violating, Pre-planning
War-Mongering "Bush Terrorists" who Threaten, Follow, Stalk, Intimidate, Harass, Attack, Scream Non-Stop, Spit at Veterans or Give Veterans the Finger in the Most Disrespecting way - Must Be Stopped.

They Are Very Serious About Continuing Their Attacks and Stalking of the Peace People Because The Police Are Not Doing Anything About It and It Must Be Stopped.

They Keep Trying to “Escalate” the Encounters with us. I can tell you numerous instances because I have been doing Weekly Ongoing Vigils - there are over 45 of them all over the Southern California area...

In some cases, these Bush Terrorists may have a police buddy friend they pre-plan this attack on us ahead of time to set you up.

When you are Prepared for them and they don’t show up, fine.

But do not be caught off-guard without being prepared for them so that you do not react from a place of fear, but instead from a place of calm and centered-ness which is hard to do when they are around.

You must keep your calm at all times and control your fears by doing certain things ahead of time.

This group of staunch harassing bushites has continually harassed for over 1 year now our peace vigils in the San Fernando Valley area. We know who they are. And I know it when I see them.

They tried in vain this weekend – on 3 Separate Occasions and Incidents, including trying to blend in as part of us and lead our march in front of us with DEROGATORY SIGNS, CALLING US “COMMIES” AND OTHER NAMES.

I know of which I speak and of what Evil Energy these people are.

I even sent a GULF WAR 1 VETERAN – MILITARY SEARGEANT FOR PEACE – Seargent Hadady to talk to them to get them to stop the level of escalation they have been getting away with for over a year now and you know what?

He tried for 30 minutes – to talk normally and calmly with them about what happened to him and his position against the war. Know what they did?

They spit at him, they screamed NON-STOP the whole time, calling him names, disrupted his attempt at a conversation throughout the entire process and after 30 minutes of their insults and their rude behavior,

He warned me and us peace vigilers about them.

These are NOT Rational, NOT Normal people. These people are definitely VIOLENT. THEY ARE TRYING TO PROMOTE VIOLENCE AND ALL THEY ARE THERE TO DO IS TO
HAVE A VIOLENT CONFRONTATION.

THEY DO NOT HAVE A MESSAGE.

IF THEY HAD A MESSAGE THEY REALLY CARED ABOUT GETTING OUT THERE, THEY WOULD NOT BE WASTING TIME STALKING OR HARASSING OUR PEACE PEOPLE.

THE FACT IS THAT THEY BELIEVE IN A VIOLENT LIFESTYLE AND THEIR WHOLE MESSAGE IS TO PREACH VIOLENCE. THAT IS ALL.

REMEMBER TO BRING AND STRESS THIS POINT TO THE POLICE:

IF THESE PEOPLE HAVE A MESSAGE THEY REALLY, SINCERELY AND TRULY CARE ABOUT INFORMING THE PUBLIC ON,

THEN WHY ARE THEY WASTING TIME TRYING TO ATTACK AND FOLLOW AND HARASS PEACE PEOPLE AND AT PEACE EVENTS?

WOULDN’T THEY HAVE SOME IMPORTANT MESSAGE THEY ARE FOCUSED ON GETTING OUT TO THE PUBLIC AND PUT THEIR OWN PRO-VIOLENT EVENTS ON?

WHY WOULD THEY WASTE TIME HARASSING YOU IF THEIR MESSAGE IS SO REALLY IMPORTANT?

You can not talk to them. If they will not respect a military seargent who served his country, they will not respect you as a citizen. Be prepared to deal with their lunacy. You do not have to be afraid or a victim.

However, they are serious and not to be taken lightly.

They have Stalked our Peace Vigils, Tried on numerous occasions to stand on our side of the street with HUGE POLES AND STICKS – THE POLICE DO NOTHING ABOUT IT WHILE THEY

MAKE US PEACE PEOPLE REMOVE ANY POLES AND STICKS FROM OUR SIGNS.

( They can be used as weapons and the police let the war-mongers have their sticks and poles – along with their tempers ).

I have Documentation on Camera of these war-mongering terrorists’ actions as well as tape recording.

They Try to PHYSICALLY FOLLOW, THREATEN, ASSAULT WHEN THEY CAN BUT DO NOT BE AFRAID IF YOU KNOW WHAT THEY ARE ALL ABOUT AND ARE PREPARED.

SOME SIMPLE RULES OF SAFETY FOR PEACE PEOPLE:

NEVER – AND I MEAN NEVER – GO ALONE. NOT EVEN TO YOUR CAR.

THEY FOLLOWED A FRIEND OF MINE TO HER CAR AND ALMOST SUCCEEDED IN PREVENTING HER FROM GETTING INTO HER CAR WHILE MAKING ANTI-SEMETIC REMARKS TO HER (AND, IRONIC THAT THE GIRL DOING IT IS “SUPPOSED” TO REPRESENT THE JEWISH DEFENSE LEAGUE!)

ANOTHER TIME, A GUY TRIED TO ATTACK AND PHYSICALLY HIT OUR PEACE PEOPLE FROM BEHIND – HE LITERALLY PULLED INTO THE PARKING LOT BEHIND
US AND JUMPED OUT – SCREAMING, EXTREMELY RED AND RUNNING TOWARDS OUR PEOPLE WITH THEIR BACKS TURNED TO HIM UNTIL I SCREAMED AND GOT THEIR ATTENTION WHEN I SAW HE WAS ABOUT TO HIT SOMEONE.

ALWAYS CARRY A CAMERA AND IF YOU CAN, A SMALL TAPE RECORDER IF POSSIBLE.

HAVE THEM EASILY READY TO USE – NOT TUCKED AWAY SOMEWHERE.

IT IS BETTER IF YOU WEAR THEM AROUND YOUR NECK – ON A CAMERA BAG – SO PEOPLE CAN SEE YOU ARE CARRYING IT.

TAKE EXTRA BATTERIES FOR THEM.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO USE THEM AND DO NOT ENGAGE IN TALK WITH THESE BUSH TERRORISTS.

JUST SIMPLY REPEAT AND SAY “DOCUMENTING THE EVIDENCE” – OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

DO NOT ENGAGE IN TALK WITH THEM AT ALL.
THAT IS THEIR SET-UP TRAP AND SET-UP PLAN.

SOMETIMES THEY HAVE PRE-SET THIS ARRANGEMENT AHEAD OF TIME WITH THE LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS.

OBEY ALL LAWS.

DO NOT TRY TO RATIONALIZE WITH THESE PEOPLE.
THEY ARE NOT NORMAL

THEY WILL TRY TO USE EVERY WHICH LAW THEY CAN TO HARRASS AND STALK YOU.

YOU NEED TO BE READY FOR THEM AND BE ABLE TO DOCUMENT THE EVIDENCE.

USE MANY WITNESSES. USE TAPE RECORDERS.
USE CAMERAS AND VIDEO.

LET THEM SEE THEY ARE BEING TAPED, PHOTOGRAPHED, ETC.

DO NOT ENGAGE.

THE KEY WORD HERE IS “ENGAGE”. DO NOT ENGAGE AT ALL WITH THEM.

I EVEN HAVE RECORDED POLICE THAT HAVE TRIED TO HARASS A VETERAN AT THE VETERANS CEMETARY ON TAPE – WITHOUT MY SAYING A WORD – AND IT
KEPT MY VETERAN FRIEND OUT OF JAIL. ALL BECAUSE I WAS READY AND PREPARED FOR THESE LUNATICS.

YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT AND WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH.

FOREKNOWLEDGE IS PREPARATION.

FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED.

WHEN YOU ARE PREPARED, THERE IS NO FEAR.

DO NOT BE AFRAID AND CONTINUE WITH YOUR EXCELLENT WORK.

REMEMBER, STRESS THE POINT THAT IF THESE PEOPLE REALLY HAD AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO GET OUT TO THE PUBLIC OF SOME KIND, THEN WHY AREN’T THEY FOCUSED ON DOING JUST THAT?

THE POINT IS THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO GET OUT TO THE PUBLIC AT ALL AND THEY KNOW IT. ANY SMART COP WILL KNOW IT TOO.

AND INSTEAD OF JUST GOING ABOUT THEIR LIVES,

THESE WAR-MONGERING PEOPLE JUST HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN TRY TO PROVOKE VIOLENCE WHICH IS ALL THEIR MESSAGE IS

ON INNOCENT PEACEFUL PEOPLE JUST MINDING THEIR OWN BUSINESS.

YOURS IN SOLIDARITY FOR PEACE,

NICOLE,
VETERAN OF THE PEACE VIGILS, 1 YEAR OF WEEKLY ONGOING PEACE VIGILING ALL THROUGHOUT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Christians are divided on the issue of war but they shouldn't be. Jesus was non-violent and entirely generous with his enemies in the face of humiliation and death. He preached love, mercy, and forgiveness at a time when community religous leaders put social pressure to shun people who didn't follow the 'rules' (and there were hundreds of rules).

On May 1 there is an all day conference for peace at the Community Mennonite Church which is Olive near Willow I think. Mennonites have been a peace church since the foundation in 1535.

We have a seminary in town that preaches peace.

There is a peacemaking center at Fresno Pacific and VORP was supported by Christians.

Many are fasting for peace on Wednesdays during Lent.

Check out the following web pages:
Sojourners
http://www.sojo.net/

Mennonite Central Committee
http://www.mcc.org/

We, in the Fresno area, have been supporting a Peace Center in Kinshasa, Congo and many in the area are working on an effort to respond to the AIDS Crisis in Africa and around the world.

Many Christian organizations came out against the Kuwait War.

There are Christians who believe that was can be an appropriate solution to conflict, but I don't believe they are following the teachings of Christ. So are they Christians just because they say they are? I won't judge them any more, but mostly I think it's inappropriate to stereotype Christians.

With the evidence from the Video, and the photos we can see in the Indy Media site.....there is proof that Ken was not doing
anything to warrant being arrested....it was just another harassment by
the Sheriffs dept. What a horrible working environment it must be for the honorable deputies who have to put up with this crap.

Those of us who know Ken, have no question in our mind that he was
doing the right thing.....he was trying to get this guy out of there before
the rally began

And those of us who have stood with Ken on the corner, we know he is
the type of person...who would quietly remind you.....to make sure and
not step off the curb to hand out a flyer,.(you might get arrested)...to
not engage in confrontational discussion with others....to ignore those
who protested us from across the street.
to ignore these people as they screamed in your face......screamed that
you were
anti-American....pro-terrorist....anti-Christ....Jew hater...etc.

The man that was disrupting the march, and rally....should have been
removed by the sheriff.....why wasn't he arrested? Why was he allowed
to come as close to the stage of the rally.....wasn't he by law suppose
to be on the outskirts of where the rally was held? Why would Ken
have to repeatedly show the permit to the Deputy to let him no that that
person should be removed.....you would think any of the deputies that we
can see who were obviously standing around from the photos would have
removed that guy if they truly upheld the law.

I remember that guy when I first started going out on the Peace
corner. He constantly tried to provoke others...with his comments, and came
over to the Peace Fresno side with his hate signs. I'm sure he was displaying the
same behavior the Anti-War rally.

So if there is a March and rally for remembrance of Martin Luther King
Jr,....then is the
Sheriff or Police dept going to let the KKK, or Aryan Brotherhood
members..harass, and come into that rally? Is that what Fresno is about?

This march and rally did not just involve Peace Fresno members and the
Non-Violent community......it also has in attendance people who are not
in any way...pacifists.
In attendance are family members who have lost love ones in the war and
who have family members who are serving overseas......who is to say
that one of these individuals will not go off on these so called patriots.

It is amazing what the rest of the nation and in some cases the world
sees the injustice happening to Peace Fresno....it is in the national
magazines, papers, tv shows..and made its way overseas......yet the local
media still seems to treat it as a little game.

I was not at this rally, I was thousands of miles away in Minneapolis,
where I do not have to be worried about being arrested, harassed,
yelled at, screamed at, looked down
upon by the police......in fact many police support us because many of
their colleagues are overseas in the national guard, and those here
have had their budgets cut by the
conservatives in the House, and by the Governor.

The post below was found on the Free Republic web site. It was put there the day before the Peace Fresno march and rally. Was their "little surprise" that they were working with the Fresno sheriff's department to have Ken arrested?

***************************************************************

To: Jim RobinsonIt's great to see you FResno FReepers getting back at the leftists. Have a GREAT FReep!!!!!!!

We have a little surprise planned for our local leftists tomorrow. We planned it all behind their backs so it will totally take them off guard. The post and pictures will be up ASAP after the FReep. I'll ping you.

FReep On FResno!!
15 posted on 03/19/2004 5:01:25 PM PST by Trteamer ( (Eat Meat, Wear Fur, Own Guns, FReep Leftists, Drive an SUV, Drill A.N.W.R., Drill the Gulf, Vote) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

The way to deal with this is simple. Have people pre and post-positioned before the next protest to follow these disruptors and to get the license plates of the vehicles they arrive and depart in. Once they are identified via the plates, any connections to law enforcement in your area ( sheriff's office) can be discovered and exposed.

I strongly suspect you are being set-up.

You Fresno people really need to be pro-active and quit being victims. You need to have multiple videographers and media from outside Fresno attend these events.

I can personally attest that in my opinion the local Fresno media has zero interest in fairly reporting about Freepers.

That or you can try to sue the fuck outta the individual officer for harrassment. Current laws make it impossible to so such because we cant "have officers worring about being sued while doing their job." This at the very least then would force the police dept or judge to take a stance and say that either the officer was acting in the interest of the state when he illegally arrested Ken or he was acting independantly. If he was working for the state then you can try to sue them but all you will get is tax payer money. To bad all these neo-con facists can cry all day about is personal responsibility but when it comes down to it they hide behind the flag all the way.

I'm curious do the Freepers have their base at an office or someone's home? Would it be legal to stand out in front with signs alerting the public to what a vile hate group they are, the signs could have quotes and content from their website, stuff like "nuke mecca" and "wetbacks go home" and of course "homosexuals should be gassed" and other examples of the evil things they say on a daily basis.