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View Full Version : 76 year old man jailed for "trespassing"; handed out religious flyers near public sports Arena




Gaddafi Duck
03-17-2014, 12:27 AM
I suppose after being forced to pay taxes for this POS sports arena, he didn't apply for a permit to stand and hand out flyers on a sidewalk.

http://journalstar.com/news/local/man-jailed-for-distributing-tracts-at-pinnacle-bank-arena/article_9673bde9-6aac-53b1-9a05-e7d1e06531d4.html




A man was arrested and accused of trespassing while handing out religious fliers outside Pinnacle Bank Arena Saturday afternoon.

Larry Ball was one of a handful of men standing outside the arena as thousands of spectators for the Nebraska Boys State Basketball Tournament walked in and out of the arena. Pinnacle Bank Arena sits on public property, land owned by the city of Lincoln and the West Haymarket Joint Public Agency.

Ball, 76, in tennis shoes and a fishing vest, approached strangers and asked if they would like a small, green booklet: “How to Know God.” Security staff called Lincoln police when Ball ventured beyond the silver cylindrical traffic barricades nearer to the arena.

“He’s been warned several times and still chose to come up along the property, and that’s why he was arrested,” Officer Brian Ward said.

He was jailed on a single count of trespassing and failure to comply, but had posted bail late Saturday.

He told The Associated Press on Sunday that he plans to fight the charge. Ball said he had spent the last three days at the arena handing out fliers, and didn't pressure anyone who declined to take one. He acknowledged that security staff asked him to leave, but he argued that authorities had no right to remove him.

"I told them to go fly a kite — this was public property," he said. "My taxes help pay for that silly building. I like to eat out, and when I do, 2 and a half percent of my bill goes to it. That is public property, and you're not going to keep me off of it."

City Attorney Rod Confer said he was unfamiliar with the exact legal situation, but didn't know of any specific city codes restricting people from handing out religious literature on the arena grounds.




Also, as a follow up...this happened at the same arena the day before:

http://journalstar.com/news/local/911/police-kearney-councilman-gambled-during-state-basketball/article_21785494-9bab-59e4-8334-f9e773863747.html?comment_form=true




A Kearney city councilman was ticketed on suspicion of gambling during a boys state basketball tournament semifinal game between Norfolk and Bellevue West at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Friday, police said.

Off-duty Lincoln police officers saw Randy Buschkoetter, 49, and Danielle Buschkoetter, 21 of Lincoln, exchanging money during the Class A semifinal around 9:15 p.m., Capt. Danny Reitan said.

Omaha Westside beat Omaha Benson 67-63 in overtime in the night's first semifinal game, and Bellevue West went on to beat Norfolk 60-49.

Reitan said it was unclear how much money was exchanged, and he wouldn’t say whether that was the only instance.

Both Buschkoetters were cited and released.

Randy Buschkoetter has served on the Kearney City Council since 1998.

Austrian Econ Disciple
03-17-2014, 03:59 AM
This country is infested with the incessant edicts of puritanical douchebags, whether it be the hypocritical gambling laws, the ban your sugars and salts non-sense, or the restrict any freedoms that have associative risk to ones...personal health with six degrees of Kevin Bacon thrown in as an excuse. I'm tired of it. You know, what is so great about forcing folks to live shepherds lives. Tone deaf, monotonous, rigid and some good ol' bootstomping to get everyone in line. Hell on Earth is not some phantom in a book, it's petty moralistic douchebags. For the love of all that is holy these cockroaches just need to scurry back to their lairs and leave us all the hell alone. (Just so you know I'm not talking about the guy handing out the literature...)

Schifference
03-17-2014, 09:05 AM
If the city built the facility and maintains it with taxpayer dollars why would anyone have to pay a fee to go inside the facility and watch a game?

Gaddafi Duck
03-17-2014, 11:13 AM
bump

oyarde
03-17-2014, 11:25 AM
How is exchanging money between family members at a ball game illegal ?

KCIndy
03-17-2014, 03:21 PM
How is exchanging money between family members at a ball game illegal ?

That's what I was wondering. One could have been giving money to go buy popcorn or sodas.

Obviously, the cops thought it was some sort of wager payoff, but unless the two were real idiots and confessed on the spot, there is absolutely no way there could have been any proof.

Again, I reiterate my new mantra: This is the "new normal." We are all considered guilty unless we can prove our innocence. And if it can't be proven... well, God help us.