Man Defends Spreading Manure at Gay Parade

[Rose Siding]

CONWAY, Ark. -- A farmer who acknowledged spreading 3 tons of manure along the route of a gay rights parade pleaded innocent Monday, saying he was exercising his constitutional right to free speech.

Two former radio disc jockeys pleaded innocent to handing out gay pornography at the June 27 parade.

The farmer, Wesley Bono, 35, of Greenbrier, is accused of dumping the manure in front of a gay couple's home and spreading it along two city streets.

Bono said before his court appearance on a misdemeanor harassment charge that he was exercising a constitutional right.

"Under the First Amendment, a man is allowed to protest. That's what I was doing," Bono told KATV. "I didn't do it as a hate crime, or any crime at all."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-gay-parade-court,0,4325841.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[trotsky]

1. Oh yeah, protest.

Spread manure in front of *'s limo and see how well the courts view your right to protest.

[Bandit]

2. Spreading bacteria is a form of terrorism

He should be imprisoned.

[David Zephyr]

24. Biological Terrorist!

If an Arab or Muslim American had done this they'd be "detained" without a lawyer for years and held in solitary confinement in true Ascroftian style.

Did I just coin the phrase "Ascroftian"? Sounds scarier than hell.

[skypilot]

3. Thanks for sharing, Mr. Bono...

...and now we'll be exercising our First Amendment rights by throwing your ass in jail.

[whistle]

4. If an Arkansas judge rules that this is exercising a constitutional right

...under the first amendment, then this will open the door to all forms of creative expression of free speech (i.e. spreading 100% male bovine manure - bullshit, in front of the White House)

[JohnnyRingo]

5. I gotta remember this next time someone calls me an asshole

The bar has been raised.

[doctorbombeigh]

6. Parade defends spreading manure back on man.

They did it as a PROTEST, so it must be okay!


(They didn't, obviously, but they should have.)

[shraby]

8. They didn't charge him

with littering?????

[ender]

14. the got twenty seven eight-by-ten

colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one...

charging this man with being a litterbug...

[pbg]

7. "We appreciate your right to protest, son..."

"...but it looks like you dropped something. Now bend down and pick it up."

[SemperEadem]

9. Bio-terrorism... ever heard of it, dude?

He did this as a means of terrorising and intimidating the gay couple due to his inability to desist in placing himself in the spotlight and thinking 'it's all about him'. Who really cares what he doesn't like? Why does it take him spreading a hazardous material on someone else's proptery? What about staying home and not going out that day if he's so damn offended?

[DoomFook]

10. Bono?

I like U2 but since when did Bono become a farmer? I thought he was still a rocker? I thought he like gay people. This shows he does not. Even though he likes Kerry. It would be dangerous if a gay protestor slipped on the manure plus they wear nice clothes and designer shoes. They are expensive. It tooked me all year to save up for my Gucci boots and now they are out of style. I will still listen to my U2 albums.

[damnraddem]

12. No, Sonny Bono was a right-winger.

But he was killed in a skiing accident.

[gatlingforme]

17. you are kidding I hope

[damnraddem]

11. And yelling 'fire' in a crowded theater is also 'exercising his rights.

Yeah, don't we all have a right to speak out by creating public health hazards on public streets?

[qwlauren35]

13. I hope he gets a whopping fine for littering.

Protest with signs and banners and a VOICE.

Protest by actions done to your own body.

But no, not littering.

And I hope it's a HUGE fine.

[belle]

26. Littering, nothing. That's harassment, vandalism, and at least a few

other things. The bacteria-spreading, as noted above. "Disturbing the peace." And, uh, YEAH, that's a hate crime.

[Bertha Venation]

15. I wonder how I would react if someone spread manure in front of my home.

I think first, I'd get some sacks and shovel it in, for my future garden use. Free manure!

Then second, I think I might send the person (provided I knew who did it) a bill for my time.

. . . just trying to find a creative way to channel outrage . . .

And FTR, maybe it's :tinfoilhat: time, but I did in fact order two Kerry/Edwards yard signs, in case one is defiled or stolen.

[DemBones DemBones]

29. I'd do the same thing! I'd love it, though these days I'd also

love having some help shoveling it up. In my younger days, I shoveled many truckloads of manure, including loads from a dumptruck.

[Hobarticus]

16. Illegal dumping isn't free speech, hayseed...

[sandnsea]

18. Interesting choice, manure

Isn't that what they used at Abu Ghraib. There is just no bottom to disgusting behavior anymore.

[EST]

19. Manure-

Isn't that the stuff this outfit spreads about anybody whom they disagree with?

[DrWeird]

20. "this outfit?"

You mean the radical right? Absolutely. Bullshit is all they've got.

[wickerwoman]

28. With his head so far up his ass, can you blame him forgetting which end

is which?

Gives talking out of his ass a whole new meaning. :-)

[nolabels]

22. Manure on the torture victims in the cells at Abu Ghraib, Manure in......

GOP HQ, manure in the White House. It's all just the same ole manure


http://www.bartcop.com/1167.htm

[KansDem]

21. Since when does dumping 3 tons of ANYTHING constitute "free speech?"

No one is doubting his right to free speech, but I imagine there's a municipal law against dumping on public property.

[theHandpuppet]

23. Meanwhile, in the nation's capital...

... a woman eating a Payday bar and a 12 year old child munching a French Fry are arrested and handcuffed by Transit police all in the name of being potential "litter terrorists".

[Charlie Brown]

25. The First Amendment does not allow you

to impede the rights of others. That's like saying you have the right to lynch and beat ethnic minorities because "it's my freedom of speech."

[daleo]

27. I wonder what is meant by the term manure

I am guessing liquid manure, in which case it would go into the storm sewer system untreated, then into the local water source. This could be a serious health hazard, besides being anti-gay harassment.

[Swamp Rat]

30. Bio-terrorism, hate crime, littering, impeding the constitutional rights

of others to move, etc. If he were an Arab he'd be imprisoned, raped, tortured... you name it.

[DemBones DemBones]

31. Manure is not likely to be a biohazard. It's usually

mixed with a lot of straw and rarely contains any human pathogens. After all, many gardeners, myself included, use manure in their gardens. If it was cow or horse manure, it probably didn't even smell too bad. If it was chicken or pig shit, though, watch out!

The article indicates that the city cleaned up the mess along the parade route and, if convicted, the farmer may have to pay for the cleanup and may do community service. (Someone said something about private property rights but my reading is that the manure was all dumped on city property.) He'll have to pay somehow for this stunt, I think.

No one has mentioned the two DJs, who were apparently in the parade (the guy was said to be wearing only a skimpy bathing suit) and were passing out gay porn. They are charged with giving porn to minors, with at least one 16 year-old who testified that the male DJ gave him a pornographic DVD. That's a lot more serious than what the farmer did and I'll bet it will be used in his defense. He can say he was protesting about immorality being encouraged by the parade and point to the example of the DJs giving out free porn to minors.

[hippywife]

32. His community service penalty

should have begun immediately...picking up all that manure with a teaspoon.

As far as the DJ's are concerned, dissemination of pornography to minors should make for a serious penalty.

These people really don't think, do they? But we're the morans. :eyes:

[truthisfreedom]

33. littering, public nuisance, pollution, incontinence.

yeah, incontinence. that's the one i pick.