Protestors gather at Crossgates Mall
Upset over arrest of man with peace T-shirt
By Lindsay Cohen
GUILDERLAND, N.Y., March 5 - A protest is going at Crossgates Mall.
Members of the group Women Against War intend to enter the
mall with clothing bearing peace messages. They are upset by
the story of Stephen Downs of Selkirk. Downs was arrested
for trespassing Monday night after he refused to remove his
T-shirt bearing a peace message or leave the mall.
DOWNS AND HIS SON, Roger Downs, each had a pro-peace
shirt made Monday night. One shirt simply said "Let Inspections
Work" on one side and "No War With Iraq" on the other. The other
shirt said "Give Peace A Chance" on the front and "Peace On
Earth" on the back. The men paid about $23 for each of the shirts
and then wore them in the mall.
"We were just shopping. We were wearing these T-shirts. We
weren't handing out leaflets, we weren't saying anything," Roger
Downs recalled.
They may not have been saying anything, but they were creating
enough of a disturbance to one employee, who called security.
Security asked Downs and his son to remove their shirts. Roger
Downs complied, but when Stephen Downs wouldn't, he was told to
leave the mall. When he refused, he was arrested.
"This struck me as a powerful way of expressing myself. I
wanted to do something peaceful," he said.
Roger Downs says he is proud of his father.
"I'm impressed that he's refused to have his civil rights violated,"
Roger Downs said.
New York Civil Liberties Union President Stephen Gottlieb says
he can't believe the peaceful T-shirts could lead to Downs' arrest.
"We believe, most of us, in the Bill of Rights, and we believe that
protects the freedom to speak. Well, if there's a freedom of speech,
where do we get to do it?" Gottlieb asked.
Gottlieb says he believes there is a law protecting peoples' rights
to free speech, even in shopping malls.
Guilderland police say they arrested Downs because he refused
to leave private property. That, they say, is trespassing.
Representatives for Crossgates did not return calls for comment
Tuesday.
Signs posted at entrances to the mall say that "wearing of
apparel... likely to provoke disturbances... is prohibited" at the mall.
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