By DAMITA CHAMBERS, Associated Press Writer
GUILDERLAND, N.Y. - About 100 anti-war demonstrators marched through a mall Wednesday to protest the arrest of a shopper who wore a T-shirt that read "Peace on Earth" and "Give Peace a Chance."
"We just want to know what the policy is and why it's being randomly enforced," said Erin O'Brien, an organizer of the noontime rally at the Crossgates Mall in suburban Albany. "It's only the people in the recent months who have anti-war or peace T-shirts that are being asked to leave the mall."
Protesters met with a mall manager and said they would stop protesting when charges against the shopper were dropped and when the mall outlined its policy. A mall spokeswoman did not immediately return calls for comment.
On Monday, Stephen Downs, 61, and his son were asked by mall security guards to remove their peace-slogan shirts or leave. Downs' 31-year-old son, Roger, took off his shirt. But Downs, a lawyer with the state Commission on Judicial Conduct and a former Peace Corps volunteer, refused.
The guards called police, and he was charged with trespassing and pleaded innocent.
Police Chief James Murley said: "We don't care what they have on their shirts, but they were asked to leave the property, and it's private property."
The men had had the T-shirts made at a mall store and wore them while they shopped.
P.S.
Thanks Basically for the link
GUILDERLAND, N.Y. - About 100 anti-war demonstrators marched through a mall Wednesday to protest the arrest of a shopper who wore a T-shirt that read "Peace on Earth" and "Give Peace a Chance."
"We just want to know what the policy is and why it's being randomly enforced," said Erin O'Brien, an organizer of the noontime rally at the Crossgates Mall in suburban Albany. "It's only the people in the recent months who have anti-war or peace T-shirts that are being asked to leave the mall."
Protesters met with a mall manager and said they would stop protesting when charges against the shopper were dropped and when the mall outlined its policy. A mall spokeswoman did not immediately return calls for comment.
On Monday, Stephen Downs, 61, and his son were asked by mall security guards to remove their peace-slogan shirts or leave. Downs' 31-year-old son, Roger, took off his shirt. But Downs, a lawyer with the state Commission on Judicial Conduct and a former Peace Corps volunteer, refused.
The guards called police, and he was charged with trespassing and pleaded innocent.
Police Chief James Murley said: "We don't care what they have on their shirts, but they were asked to leave the property, and it's private property."
The men had had the T-shirts made at a mall store and wore them while they shopped.
P.S.
Thanks Basically for the link
