The furor sparked by Iraqi artist Wafaa Bilal's controversial video game exhibit has seemingly taken on a life of its own.
In the latest news, officials of the New York Civil Liberties Union said that the organization may file suit against the city of Troy. As GamePolitics reported yesterday, city officials used local building codes to shut down Bilal's exhibit at a local studio. Executive Director Melanie Trimble of the Capital Region chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union told the Schenectady Daily Gazette:
The city is suppressing free speech, and they will face consequences. You cannot prevent people from assembling. It is an infringement of their First Amendment rights.
At the heart of the issue is the role of political figure Bob Mirch (left), a Republican with deep political connections in local and state politics. As reported by the Daily Gazette:
Mirch is head of [Troy's] Department of Public Works, works for [Republican] state Sen. Joseph Bruno as a constituent liaison and is Republican majority leader on the Rensselaer County Legislature.
Steve Pierce, director of the Sanctuary for Independent Media, which was shut down by Troy less than 24 hours after Bilal's exhibit opened, said:
We have [Mirch] on video saying, ‘I am the director of public works, and I am organizing this protest.’ The next day they shut us down. It is an issue of selective enforcement.
http://www.youtube.com/v/O87DtGSo_NY&hl=en
Comments
Did anyone notice that one of the blurred out faces in the video sounded an awful lot like Thompson? I think it was the guy in the red and black jacket. Someone correct me if I'm wrong plz.
I doubt it was JT. If it were he'd be in front of the crowd (probably claiming he organized it) trying to stir them up. Besides, Jack wouldn't be that honest or have his faced blurred. He probably has too much on his plate right now to fly up there anyway.
I think it is interesting. I wish the journalist doing the interview would hold their feet to the fire.
There is one question that I would ask each one of them “Is alright to have a game depicting the assassinating Saddam?”
I want the journalist to ask question on the facts of the matter before they get to the opinions. Make sure the people know what they are talking about before asking their opinion. By just asking for their opinion there is no basis to how they drew their conclusion besides on speculation that they just heard about it and didnt like it.
It is apparent from the interview that people know nothing about the art besides the selective reports. There is showing their ignorants.
He said he made it because he is American. What kind bullshit answer is that?
But anyways he was saying that if someone had done something like this in Iraq he would be beheaded. But isnt that why America is the land of the Free? the Freedom to speak your mind?
I love the quote from the other guy, "If someone came to my town and did it, I would be out there kicking their ass"
Isnt that what the "terrorist" are doing to soldiers from America? They came to their country, killed their leader (made a theater out of it by having a 'trial'), so they are going back kicking their ass.
There could have been questions that could have been asked.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KlczicOXF4
Third Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9Gr3lJXy1Y
The ACLU usually, tries cases that uphold the consitition. They have had a few questionable cases in the past. But it seems, this is one case, that should be fought for justice and the the US Consitition. As civil ordinances, town laws, etc.....can never superseed, the US Constitition(spelling?). So the folks in Troy may want to seriously ask their elected officals to allow the exhibit, before a costly legal battle makes them have to take cuts in services like police, fire, medical, roads, etc. This one sounds like a done deal.
On another note, when a civil servant (Mirch), takes a political action, it does make people rightly worried that abuse of power and corruption, can and will fuel something even more sinister. Again, hope the folks in Troy, NY, get to the bottom of this issue.
They're going to have a hard time proving selective enforcement of the code, I myself could provide them with the names of at least 10 local businesses that were shut down for violations that were more minor then failing to have crash bars on the doors.
If you look at the video, there is a wheelchair ramp on the front of the building. I'm not sure where the door widths are below minimum standards, but if they are in a wheelchair accessible area then they are an extreme danger for handicapped people in the need to evacuate.
It may be easy to THINK this is selective enforcement, however look at it from the other side. Perhaps the fire inspector got a complaint from one of the protesters and HAD to act on the complaint and ban assembly untill such time as the building was brought up to code. Otherwise the city would be liable if there was an evacuation and a handicapped person got trapped inside...because they knew about the violation and allowed assembly to continue.
It's very suspicious that the man in charge of code enforcement was the man organizing the protest, however denying him his right to protest simply because of his political position would be a violation of HIS civil rights.
In the video the owner/operator of the video says that the reason the work hasn't been done yet is that they don't have the money but that they are working on it. This leads me to believe they were ALREADY informed about the violations before they opened this assembly.
I would say if people are so concerned about having this voice heard, which I can completely understand, start a donation fund to pay for the work to the building. This will show the city of Troy that people are serious about this exhibit. $10 each from 1000 people would pay for 3 door replacements and the hardware. It's just more convenient for people to be able to plead poverty and expect special treatment.
Handicapped accessibility and door sizing/crash bar rules exist for a reason. A place of assembly MUST follow these rules for the safety of the patrons. A city MUST enforce the code once a violation is found or they can be sued. The inspectors were being generous allowing the exhibit to open, and very well could have closed it after a complaint. How do you know some handicapped person attending the talk didn't complain when his wheelchair got stuck in a door?
If the place burned down with a handicapped person stuck inside because of known code violations it may not be an article on GamePolitics but you can be damn sure there would be investigations into why the city allowed an assembly in a handicapped accessible building that was not up to code.
They were cleared for this assembly by the Troy FD and the Dept. of Public Works earlier in the day, but then after a call from Mirch, it was reversed.
Giving someone almost a year to fix something seems more then reasonable to me. By the same logic you've presented, that this is selective enforcement because they were shut down after this event, they could have a hot-bed political event EVERY night simply to stay open....since if they were shut down after any one of them it would be "selective enforcement".
Selective enforcement would be if they were treated differently then anyone else. I do see selective enforcement, but it's in allowing them to have assemblies for almost a year with code violations...not shutting them down like they do for other businesses.
If someone can produce proof that Mirch shut them down, I would be inclined to agree with you and if sitting on a jury would find his dept. civilly responsible. Otherwise, I can't see it as a problem.
I've had buildings shut down because I didn't complete promised repairs in time, and it's not usually on-the-spot. It's usually a couple days later when the building inspectors file their paperwork and realize I had already promised to complete the work once.
Ha, I m betting getting the proof will to lead to block in trying to get the documents. Probably the typical government run around. Legal action will probably need to be taken to get the documents. I am also betting that there is no paper work, it was all done by mouth or phone. So yeah good luck at getting proof. If there is 1 thing politicians can do is remove the blame from themselves and find a scapegoat for a majority of their political actions.
If circumstantial evidence can be used to convict people for crimes in court, then I see no reason why it cannot be used here. Based on the timing of how building was closed just screams censorship.
I don't have it off the top of my head, but it's been in print/video from a few sources. Some of which he is included in, and at no point has he or any of his supporters denied it at all.
I will look through the articles and youTube stuff I've seen this week, it's somewhere in there.
Millions have gone to war and hundreds of thousands have died for the right to say something people might not want to hear.
Everyone waving a 'freedom' sign outside that exhibit should just commit suicide now so they might prevent their bloodline from being tainted by the shame of such public displays of hypocrisy and ignorance.
Please tell me someone has organised a trojan horse. Naturally one with doors that are within one micrometer of the recommended size...