McKeldin Square Vigil, Baltimore, MD
Host: Mike Johnson chthonik-AT-hotmail.com 410-276-1142 (eve) 410-837-4967 (day)

I didn't see McKeldin Square listed as one of the locations where a vigil to Support Cindy Sheehan was occurring, so I decided there needed to be one. About 60 people showed up, as well as several people who happened by and stopped to join us. We definitely got a lot of positive support from many people out enjoying a nice night, and I hope that we reminded them that while they enjoyed the evening, Americans, and indeed Iraqis, lie in harms way, caught up in a war that was based on a lie. I also hope we added to Cindy Sheehan's powerful message, and helped buoy her incredible devotion to truth and justice for her son and all the casualties of Iraq.

Within about 15 minutes of the start of the vigil, Officer H Wagstaff of the Baltimore City Police Dept. came over and stated that because our vigil was over 25 people, a permit is required. This is not the case, as this issue has been decided in several court cases recently: McKeldin Square is a public forum where free assembly and expression are protected by the first amendment.

After being asked if we could split into two groups, Sgt. Wagstaff said that wasn't OK, because he knew we were all the same group. They must have some sort of cop training that allows the police to intuit membership in some group. Heaven forbid more than 25 people should ever be in a public park.

Anyway, since most of the people here were expecting a quiet candle light vigil, the bulk of the group agreed to move to the west side of Light or the north side of Pratt; they actually only made it to the corner where Women in Black usually stand (Light and Pratt, across from the Verizon building). Meanwhile, a smaller group made it perfectly clear that we were not going anywhere, but were going to stand right there and demand President Bush take one hour out of his month long vacation to meet with the mother of an American soldier who died in a pointless war.

While we were negotiating with Sgt. Wagstaff, he apparently got on the phone with his supervisor; I can only imagine what he was told. I think it was probably something like: "You told them they couldn't do WHAT? Assemble peacefully in a public park, where this issue has come up, and been decided in the favor of free speech? You're out of your mind!" Sgt. Wagstaff returned to tell us that we could stand on the Light-Calvert side of McKeldin Square as long as we didn't block the crosswalk (reasonable) and we didn't pass out anything (absolutely un-American and downright fascist!).

Needless to say, free speech is an issue everyone in Baltimore should be thinking about. I'd love to see groups down at McKeldin, passing out leaflets, denouncing the war, protesting corporate welfare in Iraq and Baltimore, standing up for our schools and our neighbors, and generally showing that Real Americans will not give up our free speech without resistance.

BTW, if anyone has any pictures, pleasse upload them as a reply to this article.