Jeff Olson, California Man, Faces 13 Years In Jail For Writing Anti-Big Bank Messages In Chalk
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/jeff-olson-california-banks_n_3499177.html
Jeff Olson, a 40-year-old man from San Diego, Calif., will face jail time for charges stemming from anti-big bank messages he scrawled in water-soluble chalk outside Bank of America branches last year.
The San Diego Reader reported Tuesday that a judge had decided to prohibit Olson's attorney from "mentioning the First Amendment, free speech, free expression, public forum, expressive conduct, or political speech during the trial."
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Olson later began showing his opposition with chalk drawings outside various Bank of America branches. Security camera footage from the banks apparently recorded his actions, and he eventually got a call from San Diego's Gang Unit in August 2012, when he gave up the artistic protests. The Reader reports that Freeman aggressively pressured city attorneys to bring charges against Olson until they announced that they would do so in April.
Olson told KGTV that one of the branches had claimed it cost them $6,000 to clean up the water-soluble chalk writing.
(There have been some 20 arrests for the use of water-soluble children's sidewalk chalk in Los Angeles, where the downtown business lobby CCA have declared in their 2020 future plans .pdf to seek to eliminate "intelligence-based graffiti" from the area. Here is a great article on the LA front of the water-soluble chalk arrest wars...note that although 20 some arrests were made in LA, none were prosecuted.)
Police leave chalking protesters alone
http://www.laactivist.com/2012/08/11/police-leave-chalking-protesters-alone/
August 11, 2012
Approximately 200 occupiers, along with a few from Occupy Oakland, gathered in Pershing Square to chalk, listen to music and spread their message. Though Occupy LA’s stated goal of the event was to hold a “non-violent, peaceful family event” to “celebrate art and community, unobstructed,” foremost on many people’s minds were the Los Angeles Police Department and what actions, if any, they might take.
Police say chalking is vandalism and, according to the Los Angeles Times, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has called it “criminal behavior.”
Last month, roughly 40 occupiers participated in an act of civil disobedience at the downtown ArtWalk, a festival-like event held every second Thursday to showcase art galleries, restaurants and bars. The event was intended to raise awareness of a spate of arrests and aggressive policing suffered by occupiers after they began protesting the Central City Association, a powerful downtown business lobby.
After several arrests for chalking at the ArtWalk, which involved mostly event attendees, along with a heavy-handed police response, an angry crowd began to gather at Fifth and Spring streets. Plastic and glass bottles were thrown at police, who were also repeatedly jeered by the crowd and told to leave. Riot-clad cops moved in to break up the gathering. Several people were shot with less-than-lethal projectiles and four officers suffered minor injuries.
(More at the link.)
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