Radio talk show host Bob Linden was arrested by Beverly Hills cops on Friday in front of a Wilshire Boulevard animal-skin market as Mr. Linden turned on his bullhorn power switch and announced "fur is murder." Beverly Hills cops immediately charged at Linden, yanked the megaphone from his hands, and then yanked his hands behind his back, handcuffing him, and charging him with using amplified sound without a permit, pursuant to a Beverly Hills municipal code which Linden calls "blatantly unconstitutional.""I can't believe it," Linden said. "Years after I won a settlement with Beverly Hills because of its unconstitutional practices and rights violations, here it is behaving again like George W. Bush, creating its own rogue state, a lawless constitution-free zone. Here we go again, having to show Beverly Hills that, whether it likes it or not, the constitution is still enforced there." Linden was referring to long-standing U.S. Supreme Court decided settled law recognizing the bullhorn as an instrument of free speech expression. Linden has experienced a number of similar wrongful arrests associated with bullhorn usage (which instead of resulting in convictions have resulted in greater animal rights free speech opportunities at such venues as the Los Angeles Sports Arena, Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, and the San Diego Sports Arena).
In the current oppressive environment where we are losing our rights every day, especially so for animal rights activists, it is more important than ever to assert the rights that we do have. The right to free speech is so important for those who speak for the voiceless - the poor innocent ones raised or trapped to become the fur for sale in Beverly Hills. We need to reach people, to appeal to their humanity. We know that if shoppers know the cruelty of fur, how animals are confined, how they are stomped, gassed, drowned, anally and genitally electrocuted, how maybe 40 lives are killed for one fur coat - of course people won't want to buy it - and maybe that's why the Beverly Hills cops only let me get three words out before arresting me. Do you think everyone who violates the Beverly Hills code is roughly handcuffed - or is that treatment reserved only for animal rights activists", Linden asked.
Prior to the arrest, Beverly Hills cops refused to divulge the municipal code under which Linden was being warned he would be arrested if he used the bullhorn. Subsequently, an officer read Beverly Hills Municipal Code 4-3-501 to Linden, to which Linden replied to the officer that none of what he read applied to his activities and that such a code usually has an explicit or implicit provision that such a restrictive code would not apply to those engaged in constitutionally protected activity. Beverly Hills police arrested Linden anyway, with a court date scheduled for early February.
You can help Bob Linden with his court costs, his defense, and his subsequent lawsuit against the City of Beverly Hills for its repeated egregious violations of our constitutional rights as American citizens. Donations for legal (re not tax-deductible) and should be made payable to Bob Linden, and sent to PO Box 475414, San Francisco, CA 94147.
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