For months, a Long Island college student had demonstrated
his First Amendment rights on an overpass by holding flags and signs
that expressed more than just his displeasure with Barack Obama.
However, when certain police officers caught wind of his actions, they
decided that there was going to be trouble.
Danny Martins, a senior at Hofstra University in 2014 and
member of the school’s Libertarian Club, had been flying flags and
banners on the Long Island Expressway since 2013, the New York Post reports. Along with the Tea party and American flags, Martins also held a banner that read “Impeach Obama.”
Danny Martins flies the American flag alongside his “Impeach Obama” banner on the Long Island Expressway overpass.
While he argues that there have never been any accidents,
and even that some officers from the local Nassau County Police
Department have offered him candy bars and sodas during his peaceful
demonstrations, a few other officers had a problem with Martins’
political views.
Martins’ uploaded footage of an incident in June 2014, in
which officers approached him and prodded him for information about his
protest. He was arrested for “disorderly conduct,” and his case quickly
became a viral federal lawsuit.
Nassau County prosecutors attempted to argue that Martins’
activity was hazardous to motorists and pedestrians, but these claims
never held water. A judge eventually dismissed all charges against him,
citing his right to free speech.
Martins, however, wasn’t about to let the harassing officers
get away with threatening his constitutional rights and trying to
intimidate him from using them. The libertarian activist has filed a
lawsuit against the police department just last week for violating his
freedom of speech.
With the race war and commands for killing police officers,
it’s mind-blowing that anyone in this profession would seek to detain
one of the people who is protesting the president who has fueled racism
and violence. The officers who participated in Martins’ arrest are
ignorantly digging their own graves, for it is the conservative and
libertarian activists who support our men and women in blue in the face
of racism and rioting.
Had Martins’ been a black activist who was holding a sign
that read “Black Lives Matter” or “Death to Police,” would the Long
Island PD have reacted differently? Although these few officers
undoubtedly abused their power, fortunately, they do not represent the
views of the majority of police, most of whom appreciate even the
smallest support during these troubling times.
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