Occupy Sarasota Has Its First Arrest

An Occupy Sarasota protester was arrested Saturday following a chalk drawing at Selby Five Points Park, and the American Civil Liberties Union will investigate, according to The Herald-Tribune.

The arrest soon made its way online through video and the Occupy Sarasota blog, Occupy My Soapbox.

The Herald-Tribune reported that the Sarasota's ACLU legal team will look at whether this violated free speech:

"Sarasota Police Officer John Neri arrested Chris Young Saturday afternoon as the disabled Iraq War veteran was writing a slogan disparaging the American Legislative Exchange Council(ALEC), a conservative public policy group he opposes.

"Neri charged Young with trespass, resisting arrest, obstructing pedestrian traffic and tampering with public property. The tampering charge is based on a city ordinance that states: “No person shall in any way tamper or interfere with any of the property owned by the city.”

Occupy My Soapbox shared its side of the incident:

"The officer was demanding that Christopher leave the park immediately. Christopher asked why. Instead of answering the question, the officer picked up Christopher's cane and held it in front of his face and told him once again to leave. Christopher reached up for the cane, so that they were both holding onto it. Only at this point did I notice several folks reaching for their phone-cameras. Within about a minute, the officer had him lying face-down on the sidewalk and was handcuffing him. It was not excessive force, but it seemed pointless and needlessly rough for someone who seemed willing to leave on his own. The officer then walked Christopher over to a police car that had pulled up onto the sidewalk, leaving the cane behind. ...

I came away with many impressions and at the moment I don't have a sense of what is most important. Here is what comes to mind. The arresting officer, Officer Neri, operated by the book, as far as I could tell. He seemed to have a mission as he came into the park. He seemed to have a sense of exactly what was about to happen and how he would control the outcome. Officer Neri interviewed one bystander, who turned out to be the disgruntled citizen who had walked through the park earlier telling everyone how useless they were."

Young then filed an official complaint at the police department, according to the blog.

Young's friends posted bond, The Herald-Tribune reported, and upon learning of the ACLU support, he told the paper, "I can’t be more pleased about actual caring people coming to the aid of a peaceful citizen. There’s going to be an outcry when people see the truth come out.”