This is a fear inspiring story, all too easy to imagine.
Carol Trainer could hardly process what was happening. To her, a
60-year-old grandmother and Vietnam veteran, of all people. On Memorial
Day, of all times. Arrested for protesting the war…
“He comes up to me and says, ‘Drop your sign,’” Trainer recalls. “I
said, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘I told you to drop your sign.’ He grabbed it out
of my hand when I didn’t drop it. That kind of started me. I thought,
What’s going on here? I kept asking why and he wouldn’t tell me.” The
only explanation Trainer received, after her arrest, was that offended
patrons had complained that she was harassing them and ruining their
fun. She says that while dozens of people thanked her for the message,
she had been confronted by four patrons, including one veteran “who
said, ‘This is Memorial Day–we’re here to enjoy ourselves.’ I said,
‘When do the people in Iraq get to enjoy themselves?’” Crying
and struggling with the deputy, she tried appealing to Mayor Jerry
Abramson, who was watching the show nearby, but he “just stared and
glared at me and didn’t say a word.” The deputy and a Metro Police
officer dragged her off forcefully in handcuffs.
Carol… “thank you for wearing the sign”… more importantly, thank you for sharing the story of your arrest; helping people realize that our “freedom” is somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
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