The lawyer who divulged President George W. Bush's drunken-driving arrest days before the 2000 election was arrested at gunpoint Tuesday after he was seen on a highway overpass carrying a toy gun while dressed in an Osama bin Laden costume.
Tom Connolly, 49, of Scarborough, was charged with criminal threatening after he stood at a construction site visible to commuters on a major highway while wearing a Halloween holiday costume and waving a sign.
"The whole thing is just incredibly bizarre," said South Portland Police Chief Ed Googins. "It just crossed the line."
Connolly, who ran for governor as a Democrat in 1998 and lost, met with reporters briefly after posting $500 cash bail to secure his release from the Cumberland County Jail in Portland. Criminal threatening is a misdemeanor.
"There was a First Amendment this morning when I woke up. I don't know how it evaporated with the dawn," he said.
Idiotic....YES. Free speech....??????
2006-11-02 01:03:15 · 21 answers · asked by big-brother 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/31/america/NA_GEN_US_Halloween_Stunt.php
2006-11-02 01:03:25 · update #1
Smarty pants...where do I defend his actions?? Its just a question...go back to russia.
2006-11-02 01:12:51 · update #2
I agree "stifle it libs" hes lucky he didnt get shot by the locals....especially since it was in MAINE.
2006-11-02 01:14:35 · update #3
If the gun LOOKED REAL maybe they thought he was a threat and was going to shoot someone. Stranger things HAVE happened.
OR - if the police were democrats - they thought they were capturing the REAL Bin Laden in time for the Nov. elections.
2006-11-02 01:08:32 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 1⤋
Tom Connolly has the right to say whatever he wants about Dubya or anyone else for that matter. Problem is you have taken this whole situation out of context and you've made it appear that he was arrested for speaking out against President Bush (in much the same way the mainstream media twists the facts and engages in half-truths in order to further its liberal agenda). We don't have all the details, but he was on a highway overpass -- for starters, that presents a danger to motorists, and I'm sure he didn't have a permit to be there because pedestrians are not allowed on highways or overpasses for safety reasons. And he was carrying toy grenades and did point a fake AK-47 at police officers. Sorry, but in this post-9/11 era, making a joke about being a terrorist isn't funny, and you sure as heck don't EVER point a weapon, real or fake, at a police officer. How were they supposed to know that it was a fake? THAT it what he was arrested for -- criminal threatening. OK, so he was arrested at gunpoint -- glad to see the cops are playing for real.
2006-11-02 01:24:00 · answer #2 · answered by sarge927 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
We are not talking about speech of any kind here - free or otherwise. He was arrested for his actions. Dressing and an Arab terrorist and carrying a gun (real or not) is a public safety issue. If he was actually mistaken for Bin Laden, he could have been shot on the spot by police or civilians, endagering everyone else in the vacinity.
2006-11-02 01:34:47 · answer #3 · answered by FabMom 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Awwww come on
He is a lawyer he knew the outcome of that before he did it...
What a stunt.. but not very smart with the gun really... Him in costume holding a toy gun could be reason enough to be fired upon..if the esponding officers could not tell it was fake!
Also a passerby with good intentions could have decided to take him out.
While I understand his thinking though do not agree with it ... and I think his little stunt was clever and creative...
Not the best idea really.....
But he proved what he wanted to...
Soooooo
I guess I would not consider it against his 1st ammendment... He was causing trraffic to be distrtacted that is a hazard, in addition to his costume etc..
I think had he been standing in clear sight on a street corner with his sign the reaction would have been different. Hard to say..
OK
well good luck
Wismom
2006-11-02 01:13:01 · answer #4 · answered by Wismom 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Well, he was carrying a toy gun, I seem to remember a young kid who was shot by an officer for pointing a seemingly real looking toy gun at an officer.
Passerby of course did not know who this guy was or that the gun was a toy.
I am sure people did not drive by and say "hey there goes one of those crazy democrats, I better call the police"
2006-11-02 01:26:46 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it is free speech. Which is protected. Of course, him carrying a gun (real or not) USED to be protected by the 2nd Amendment, but that one has been so infringed upon that it is ridiculous to even talk about it. So he got his own medicine. Put restrictions on ownership and possession of guns and go to jail not for wearing a Bin laden costume, but for carrying a weapon in public. he is lucky he was in Maine and not NY, he would have been shot dead by the State Police and THEN questioned: "He had a evil deadly assult rifle, I HAD to save the CHILDREN!"
Seems like poetic irony for the Dems methinks.
2006-11-02 01:09:16 · answer #6 · answered by Cabhammer 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
lets see a unscrupulous lawyer wearing a dress and towel, holding a sign (which of course no one seems to want to say what it said )waving a gun around in commuter traffic gets stopped and arrested....yeah now thats funny, violation of free speech, not at all. but then again why am i not surprised someone of your ilk would support a possible nut case lawyer waving around at the side of the road. and by the way you say 'drunk driving days' like there was more than one...bush was detained once and i wonder how many skeletons have you in your closet, how many mistakes have you made in your youth...bet you wouldn't want the world delving into your past...but then again you have the anonymity of being a nobody to hide behind.
2006-11-02 01:09:13 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
He was a threat to public safety, that's why he was arrested.
This clown is all about exposure. He premeditated that scenario just so all the little schoolies would be crowing about his First Amendment rights being abused.
Typical lib tactic
2006-11-02 01:08:27 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
I have more sympathy for all the idiots who get arrested for DUI when they are sleeping in their cars.
And that happened under Clinton...
Cops uphold the 1st amendment? Get real. That's what judges are for.
50$ to get out of jail. Wah.
2006-11-02 01:10:52 · answer #9 · answered by ? 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Free Speech is a right, but with rights come responsibilities. Did he take the dog's medication?
2006-11-02 01:14:07 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋