police remove sweet jimmy from oshawa ribfest

oshawa ribfest 2007

-

half rack of ribs please

with a side order of oppression

and a charter of rights and freedoms violation

to choke it down with

-

sweet jimmy riblover, diana, emily, breanna, and her friend carly

arrive at ribfest

and encounter a sign at the entrance

no gang colours

no gang clothing
-

-i'm wearing the t-shirt pictured above

which denotes support for the hell's angels motorcycle club

which means it was only a matter of time

before i was asked to leave

by the police

and advised that if i didn't

i would be charged with trespassing

-

trespassing is a provincial offence - a fine - no criminal record

if you camp on a campsite without paying

you get the same charge

big deal

-

however

when it comes to policing "bikers" the dance is different

cops don't mind violating a civil right or two

or colluding with their peers to file a bogus charge

or two

then they feed the mainstream media

erroneous information relating to these charges

which supports a misinformed publicly manufactured sensational fear based image of an entire group of individuals

-

what isn't reported

is that weeks and months later

most of these charges are dropped in court

-

subsequently

to the general public

the innocent

remain guilty as charged

-

this day was to be a family outing - not a civil rights protest

bre brought a friend

so we gotta act normal right

i can't be hauled off to jail for wearing a t-shirt

and trying to make a point

-

reluctantly i hand my dinner to diana

and the cops escourt me off the property

every last step

-

i forage through the van for any other t-shirt to wear

and there's only one

my rarely worn in public "pot heads union local 420" t-shirt

-

freedom of association is suffering a weary battle

waged by budget hungry media manipulating cops

pimping fear and a bad guy scapegoat to support their organizations

-

but even in durham

where many of the cops are cowboys

with hard-on's instead of horses

freedom of speech remains alive and well

-

i walked back onto the grounds

smiled at the cops who asked me to leave

and said sarcastically

"that's better isn't it boys"

pointing at the huge pot leaf on my shirt

-

and they

had no choice

but to say

it was

even though

it wasn't

-

support the big red machine

because not all "bikers" are bad guys

just like rotarians/masons/shriners/kinsmen

are not all good guys

-

motorcycle clubs

are motorcycle clubs

not gangs