2y ago

Harassed by police for Free Palestine stickers

I was harassed by a police officer for putting Free Palestine stickers on a public lamp post. So much for "American freedom" lmao. Unless this is actually illegal (which he did not mention), I should be fine to just keep doing this, right?

7 comments

Better to not do it in front of the police. You may get a fine for vandalism, or something like that.
- Just make sure you're ready and able to book it! 🏃‍♂️💨🚓🐷 #1 fine avoidance technique. I just graffitied some Palestine and I made sure to do it in an area where I had multiple escape routes inaccessible to cars. RECOMMEND EXTREME CAUTION IF BLACK DO NOT GET SHOT
  
  For the curious: ::: spoiler spoiler
  "75 YEARS", "OPPRESSION MUST STOP!"
  Not my best, was running out of paint and area started getting busier, plus spraypaint is not my forte.
  Luckily it's in a super busy block of downtown so hopefully even though the catchphrase is meh and unreadable the flag alone should be enough to ruffle someone's feathers. :::
In most US cities, that would be illegal. Lamp posts are owned by either the city or the local utility company. I only know because I looked it up and complained to to the city until they went around and removed all the 'JESUS SAVES' and 'FEAR GOD OBEY' signs that some nutter put up.
If you're going to do it anyway, be nonchalant about it.
It would depend on the laws in your city, worth looking into to be sure. It's likely they would be able to find some vandalizing/graffiti law they could throw at you if they wanted.
Now would they actually enforce that for most things, including pro-occupier stickers? Probably not, but they do like passing laws that they can selectively enforce when it behooves them. I had a Palestine flag sticker on my computer for years and I magically always got flagged for extra "random" security when I flew anywhere.
Either way, probably best to be subtle about it and not do it right in front of police.
- Great, can I expect the same now? Although, I don't put stickers on my laptop.

7 comments