Immediately after closing my booth at the LP Convention, I walked to the St. Louis Arch with bullhorn in tow to participate in the Boston Tea Party “March on the Arch.” The March was supposed to start at 2P, however, I arrived late and the other marchers had left by the time I arrived. That did not stop me. As I walked from the Renaissance Grand Hotel, I passed the Federal Reserve Building for the St. Louis branch. I delivered a brief message, “The Federal Reserve is a private central bank with an unknown list of owners. This private bank is responsible for printing the nations currency and since it’s creation in 1913 has destroyed 97% of the nations wealth. Legal Tender is a fraud, fraud is theft & theft is violence. We must demand that Congress abolish the Federal Reserve and legalize Honest Money.” Having delivered this message, I spit on the logo of the Federal Reserve and continued to the Arch.
I was met around the corner by a gentleman that asked about what I was saying about the FED. We chatted for about 10 minutes before mentioning that either of us were going to the Arch, we continued to discuss monetary & foreign policy until we reached the entrance of the park.
I proceeded to walk until I was standing under the middle of the Arch and delivered a Memorial Day message: “Today, we celebrate Memorial Day. It is the day we remember those young men and young women who have been sent off like sheep to the slaughter and killed in the brutality that is war. We remember those young men and young women that are killed for no reason other than an expansion of the Empire.
A few blocks away is the Federal Reserve building. The FED prints your currency and has since 1913 destroyed 97% of your wealth. If the Federal Reserve is abolished, the Congress can abolish the IRS and if we abolish the IRS we can bring our troops home from the 158 nations around the world where they are stationed. There is no legitimate reason to have troops in: Micronesia, Indonesia, Tuvalu, Palau, Australia or South Korea. There is no reason to continue fighting wars in Afghanistan or Iraq. They said we went to Afghanistan to kill Osama Bin Laden, he’s possibly been dead for several years. They said we went to Iraq to kill Saddam Hussein, he has been dead for several years. We need to end the occupation. We need to end the wars for expansion of the Empire. We do not want war, we want peace!
There are two types of people, those who want to be left alone and those who just won’t leave us alone.”
(I know, I said other things about fiat currency being a fraud, and ending the empire, but it was all unscripted this is what I remember the best.) It was at this approximate point in my message that I was approached by Park Police. I was asked if I had a permit, I replied, “as a matter of fact, I do,” and pulled a Constitution from my back pocket. I opened it to the 1st Amendment and read, “Congress shall make no law… prohibiting free speech.”
He was insistent that I also needed a permit from the Park and that such was a “regulation” inhibiting free speech, not a “law.” He then asked if I had a driver’s license, to which I replied, “yes, but I’m not driving so I see no reason to give i to you.” He said, “Well, for my safety, I need to know who you are.”
“I’ll gladly tell you my name, if you ask.”
“May i have your name?”
“My name is Darryl Perry.”
“Can I have your Social Security number?”
“unless you also work for the Social Security Administration I’m not giving you that number.”
“It helps me know who you are.”
“It says right on the card, not to be used as identification.” I could tell he was getting more and more upset and he called for two other officers to assist him, he also slowly crept back into “tazer distance”. I asked why he was calling for backup. and he gave an obviously bad answer that they were better trained at dealing with “these type” situations. He then continued:
“Can I have your drivers license?”
“I’m not operating a vehicle, I have no need to prove that I’m licensed to drive. If you want identification, ask for it.”
“I did, i just asked for your Driver’s License.”
“Yes, but again, I’m not driving and I already told you who I am.”
“I’m authorized to ask for a State or Federally issued ID, will you please provide one for me?”
I reached into my pocket, removed my wallet and handed him my Drivers License, under duress of course, as nothing at this point was being filmed for my own protection. He stepped back a few feet from where he had been and called my information to someone in a “control center.” As he was doing so, I reached into my other pocket and pulled out my video camera and asked (to make sure he knew I wasn’t pulling a weapon) if I could use my camera. Regardless of his answer, I had every intention of turning it on, he simply replied, “hold on” as if he didn’t hear my question. I was able to remove my camera from it’s cover, turn it on, start recording (video below) and slide it back in my pocket without objection.
At this time, the two other officers approached. He went back to telling me that I needed a permit, to which I objected. I then asked him if I could use my Constitutional right to petition for redress to ask him to let me speak without a permit. He denied my request and admitted that there are “free speech zones” in the United States and immediately began telling me about the process for getting a permit.
I continued to object based on my constitutional right. He rebutted that it was a permit to use the property not to use free speech, but admitted that I had as much right as everyone else to use the property. The officer then objected that by practicing free speech there would be people arguing and getting into fights. I pointed to some people behind him that were conversing and said, they could be arguing and about to get into a fight and asked what was different. His reply was they weren’t trying to have other people hear their conversation and I needed a permit. I asked, “just to use the bullhorn, or just to speak? If I want to speak loudly, do I still need a permit?” Again, I pointed to the people behind him speaking and asked if they needed a permit, as well. He replied, “they’re not trying to talk to everyone,” and went back to telling me about the permit. I interrupted, “What are the decibel levels that – where does the right of free speech become a privilege?”
A question he refused to answer, again he told me process for getting a permit. I told him, I refuse to get a permit and “if I can have my ID, I’ll leave.” He returned my ID and began telling me all of the surrounding area was federal property, except for a small spot by the river. Having heard this, I turned the other way and left the park and St. Louis, still without an answer to the question, “At what decibel level does free speech become a privilege?”