[Vision2020] Megaload Monitors Arrested Saturday for Obstruction

[Debbie Gray]

Instead of assuming ISP or other law enforcement officers are uninformed buffoons completely unfamiliar with Idaho Code, why don't the protestors (who are clearly there with the intent to stay until arrested) suck it up and deal with the consequences of their behavior instead of threatening lawsuits and destroying public property (e.g. breaking windows of the jail van). It seems the protests quickly start veering more toward 'protesting police officers very presence' than toward effectively conveying any message about the tar sands environmental degradation. Isn't that what protestors are trying to do, raise awareness of the tar sand project? Voice their opinion about whether the big oil companies should be allowed to use public roads to transport this stuff? Those messages sure get lost in a hurry when all that's left is a group of people flipping off the police and screaming about the pigs.


As one protestor stated so clearly, the police provided a multitude of opportunities to disperse after giving them lots of time to protest and share their message. So then they must want to be arrested, yes? It's like poking a hornet's nest with a stick 500 times and then filing a lawsuit when you get stung and then complaining that you have a constitutional right to poke whatever you want with your stick. Sure... but along with those rights come the responsibilities of shouldering the consequences.


Debbie Gray



________________________________
From: Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com>
To: Moscow Vision 2020 <Vision2020 at moscow.com>
Cc: Jane Kauzlarich <indigo3239 at msn.com>; Kathy Judson <ponysnpups at gmail.com>; Borg Hendrickson <chicory at wildblue.net>; Friends of the Clearwater <foc at friendsoftheclearwater.org>; Fritz Knorr <fritzknorr at gmail.com>; Jeanne McHale <jeannemchale at hotmail.com>; Fiddlin' Big Al Chidester <alchidester at juno.com>; Brett Haverstick <bhaverstick at yahoo.com>; Marilyn Beckett <marilynbeckett at gmail.com>; Lin Laughy <lin at wildblue.net>; Lois Blackburn <LoisB at q.com>; Friends of the Palouse Ranger District <fprd09 at gmail.com>; Wild Idaho Rising Tide <wild.idaho.rising.tide at gmail.com>; Helen Yost <helen.yost at vandals.uidaho.edu>; Dinah Zeiger <dzeiger at uidaho.edu>; Sally Perrine <sperrine at potlatch.com>
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 7:52 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Megaload Monitors Arrested Saturday for Obstruction

The Idaho State Police may be onto something here, V-peeps.

If ANY of you know, or even suspect, anyone who may have sat in their vehicle . . . while parked . . . NOT wearing their seat belts . . . contact local authorities IMMEDIATELY . . . Before this becomes a criminal epidemic.

At first these offenders will hide behind the excuse, "But, officer, we were just parked here.". The next thing you hear about them is they are strapped in a gurney . . . with IVs in their arms . . . praying for a call from the governor.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown


On Aug 29, 2011, at 7:35, "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:

> Courtesy of today's (August 29, 2011) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Megaload monitors arrested Saturday for obstruction outside Coeur d'Alene
> 
> Wild Idaho Rising Tide community organizer, fellow opposition member
> refused to give ID to state trooper
> 
> Two protesters of the Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil megaload that began its trip
> from Lewiston late Thursday were arrested outside Coeur d'Alene on U.S.
> Highway 95 while monitoring the shipment's progress early Saturday
> morning.
> 
> Helen Yost said she and another woman had been part of a group that was
> monitoring the load early Saturday when they were arrested by an Idaho
> State Police trooper.
> 
> They were later charged with obstruction and failure to wear seatbelts.
> 
> Yost is community organizer for Wild Idaho Rising Tide, the environmental
> action group that has been leading the fight against Imperial
> Oil/ExxonMobil's plans to move oil refinery equipment through Idaho on its
> way to the Kearl Oil Sands Project in Alberta, Canada,
> 
> As the shipment made one of its scheduled stops, Yost said the SUV she was
> a passenger in pulled over to the side of the road ahead of the shipment
> to wait to get back behind it.
> 
> An ISP vehicle parked in front of them on the side of the road, Yost said,
> and a trooper approached them. He told them they were not wearing their
> seatbelts and asked for their identification. Yost said she told the
> trooper their seatbelts were off because they were parked at the time and
> refused to give the trooper her license as she was a passenger, while the
> other woman, who goes by Cici, did not have identification to give.
> 
> Yost and Cici were arrested and placed in separate ISP vehicles, Yost
> said, and taken to the Kootenai County Jail.
> 
> Yost said there had been talk of a protest in Coeur d'Alene that never
> picked up momentum.
> 
> The driver of the SUV, Sharon Cousins of Viola, ended monitoring of the
> shipment and went to support the two women at the jail.
> 
> "Nobody continued monitoring at that point that we know of," said Cici.
> 
> Yost said while they spent about 18 hours in jail, supporters came up with
> funds for their bonds, which were set at $300 each.
> 
> "It was an attempt to intimidate people who are here to monitor these
> loads," Yost said of the arrests. "They didn't have any reason to arrest
> us and bring us to jail like they did."
> 
> Cici said they were not read their Miranda rights or allowed to make a
> phone call until they had been incarcerated for about 12 hours at the
> jail, and she only gave her information to police when she was told she
> could be held for an indefinite length of time.
> 
> "Interestingly, they referred to us at the jail as the Highway 95
> protesters," she said.
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Not wearing seat belts?  The horrors!!
> 
> Book 'em, Dano!
> 
> Obstruction?!?!?  WHAT OBSTRUCTION?
> 
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
> 
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
> 
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