Second federal suit filed over protests near Bush ranch
Associated Press
AUSTIN -- Three activists sued the
city of Crawford today, claiming a city
ordinance illegally barred them from
protesting the war in Iraq when
President Bush was visiting his ranch in
May.
The federal lawsuit filed by Marie Pugh
of Caddo Mills, Victoria Rectenwald
of Waco and Martin Wallace of
Denton claims they were threatened
with arrest if they violated the city's
protest ordinance during Bush's May 3
visit to the ranch.
They said the ordinance violated their
First Amendment rights and the Texas
Bill of Rights.
The ordinance requires would-be
demonstrators to apply for a permit 15
days in advance. They also must state
the purpose of the march and the
number of people and kinds of material
that will be involved, according to the
lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in
Austin.
The three had not filed for a permit,
which would have been issued by the
Crawford police chief. They said they
were unaware of the ordinance.
The suit names the Texas Department
of Public Safety, the city of Crawford,
Crawford Police Chief Donnie
Tidmore, McLennan County Sheriff
Larry Lynch, and McLennan County
Chief Deputy Sheriff Randy Plemons
as defendants.
A spokesman with the DPS would not
comment on the suit, citing pending
litigation. Crawford police and the
McClennan County Sheriff's
Department did not immediately return
calls seeking comment to The
Associated Press.
Pugh, Rectenwald and Wallace said
they were on their way to demonstrate
against the war in Iraq at the Bush
ranch and were threatened with arrest
by Tidmore as they drove through
Crawford.
About 20 DPS officers and a number
of sheriff's deputies barricaded the
road to prevent them from passing,
according to the lawsuit.
Rather than being arrested, the three
left. Five other protesters who were
arrested in the incident and spent the
night in jail filed a separate lawsuit in
June. The status of that lawsuit is
pending the resolution of criminal
charges against the five.
Jim Harrington, director of the Texas
Civil Rights Project, called the
ordinance "un-American,
anti-democratic and unconstitutional."
"The Crawford ordinance illegally
curbs constitutionally protected
expression of political views,"
Harrington said. "The ordinance gives
unfettered discretion to the police chief
to decide who can and cannot protest
and impermissibly discriminates on the
basis of the content of the speech."
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