Trial Date Set for Talk Show Host BOB LINDEN Arrested at Fur Free Friday Protest

[Guest guest]

June 8th Trial Date Set for Animal Rights Radio Talk Show Host Bob Linden

Arrested at " Fur Free Friday " Protest in Beverly Hills Last November

 

On Monday, a judge in Beverly Hills scheduled June 8th to start the trial of

animal rights activist and talk show host Bob Linden ( " Go Vegan with Bob Linden "

/ www.GoVeganRadio.com) arrested November 27th 2009 for using a bullhorn to

protest the cruelty, torture, and murder associated with the sale of fur. Mr.

Linden is being represented by attorney Jill Ryther.

 

The arrest occurred 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 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

settled law, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, 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 who even wind up in jail for merely

writing slogans with chalk on sidewalks, it is more important than ever to

assert the rights that we do have. The right to free speech is of paramount

importance for those who speak for the voiceless - the poor innocent ones raised

in the harshest confinement, or trapped despairingly to become the fur that is

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

imprisoned, how they are stomped, gassed, poisoned, drowned, anally and

genitally electrocuted, how maybe 40 animals 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 threatened with arrest 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 codes usually have an explicit or implicit exemption

for those engaged in constitutionally protected free speech. The Beverly Hills

cops arrested Linden anyway.

 

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 costs are

not tax-deductible and should be made payable to Bob Linden and sent to GO VEGAN

RADIO, PO Box 475414, San Francisco, CA 94147, or through PayPal at

MeatFreeAmerica. Donations to support Linden's work in the media on

behalf of animals are tax-deductible and can be made payable to GO VEGAN RADIO

at the above address, or online at www.GoVeganRadio.com.