yeah, he had a gun on him. here is a little more to the story:
Armed protester arrested at Alaska State Fair
by Jason Lamb
9:36 PM AKDT, August 27, 2010
ANCHORAGE, Alaska
A video taken Thursday at the Alaska State Fair is getting major attention online. It shows a political activist being restrained and arrested for criminal mischief -- but did fair security guards threaten his right to free speech?
Hundreds of people have watched the video on YouTube overnight THursday. State fair officials say they viewed the incident with protester Sidney Hill as a public safety issue, and not a threat to Hill's free-speech rights.
“This is free speech, leave me alone!” Hill said in the video.
The video, shot by a bystander Thursday, begins as a security guard is asking Hill -- a political activist and supporter of national candidate Lyndon LaRouche -- to leave the fair. Officials say Hill was approached after people complained to fair security that he had been disrupting entertainment at the fairgrounds.
“Who's for impeaching Obama and saving America?” Hill asked the crowd.
The situation quickly escalates as Hill refuses to leave. In front of dozens of onlookers, fair security pins him to the ground -- as members of the crowd tell the guards that Hill has a right to political free speech at the fair.
“This is wrong!” someone in the crowd exclaimed.
“Does anybody want to help me? Does anybody want to help?” Hill asked.
An off-duty state trooper arrived to control the crowd.
“State troopers! You want to go to jail? Back off! Back off!” the trooper says.
Police eventually arrested the man and took him away after they discovered that Hill was carrying a loaded weapon in violation of fair rules. The fair’s Dean Phipps says the fairgrounds are private property, and visitors are subject to those rules.
“We feel like we responded appropriately,” Phipps said. “Because we are the state fair, everyone thinks we're part of the State of Alaska. We're not -- we're a non-profit.”
Phipps says there are several other political groups at the fair, but they all have to follow rules -- including staying within an assigned booth, and not walking around in the open like Hill was.
“They aren't allowed to walk up and down the aisle or congregate in public places, particularly when it’s interfering with the fairgoers’ experience,” Phipps said.
Fair officials say they don't view the force that the guards used as excessive.
“They're required to restrain until they can sort it out, so I don't think it was excessive from that standpoint, particularly when they discovered he had a loaded weapon he brought onto the fairgrounds,” Phipps said.
After police arrested Hill Thursday, he was charged with assault, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief.
Contact Jason Lamb at
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Copyright ? 2010, KTUU-TV
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