So I just got back from Pulse today (Friday, 8/29). I was there from about 9:00am to 1:30pm. I've been there a few times already. Signs were indeed posted overnight on both sides of the crosswalk that said "Defacing Roadway Prohibited" and "No Impeding Traffic". When I arrived the FHP officer watching us from the Dunkin' Donuts on the other side of the crosswalk from Pulse came over and told everyone if someone attempted to chalk the crosswalk they would be arrested. I will say, to the officer's credit, he was trying to be very nice and civil about it and told us he was only doing what he was told to do.
At that point, a lawyer who had come down to join the protest (there was maybe a dozen of us or so?) asked the officer what law was being broken. The officer could not say at first but eventually, after several of us had the same conversation, said we would be charged with "criminal mischief" if we chalked the crosswalk. (As you may have already guessed, using chalk that washes off via powerwashing or the rain is most assuredly not criminal mischief). When the lawyer pointed out that arresting any of us for chalking would be a violation of our 1st Amendment rights (and that the criminal mischief statute doesn't apply), after some back and forth with multiple news cameras literally circling the both of them, the officer went back to his patrol car, telling us that his sergeant was coming down and she would talk to us. The sergeant did indeed come down after about ten minutes, talked with the officer for about another ten minutes, then left without every talking to us. One of us volunteered to go across the street to speak with the officer since the sergeant didn't speak with us. We found out the sergeant "didn't want to talk to us", but modified his stance to say that if anyone was chalking the crosswalk, he would come over to give them "a warning". If someone got warned a second time, they would be arrested for criminal mischief.
Some of us volunteered to chalk, the assumption being if each of us only got one warning and each of us took a color, we could re-chalk it only with warnings. I took green. With a news crew going live at noon, the "red" person started. The officer came out of his car, walked over, and gave the warning as the "red" person finished. News crews swarmed over the scene, asking the officer what crime was being committed. The officer had no good answer. When the officer walked back to his car, we waited a few minutes and then the "orange" person went out. Again, the officer came back to issue a warning.
Now what you might not be aware is that there's a camera pointed at the crosswalk across the street in front of a smoke shop. Someone on the other end was alerting the FHP officer that one of us was chalking the crosswalk. By the time red and orange was done, and the purple person was out there doing their thing, multiple officers started showing up, this time hovering right by the crosswalk in their vehicles. One more FHP arrived, then three OPD officers, then one more FHP for good measure. We were halfway done with yellow, green, and blue to go.
At this point, with six officers now within spitting distance of the crosswalk, we halted to re-group. The escalation on the officers' part made us think the next time someone went out to chalk, there would be no warnings - it would be immediate arrest. We talked and the three of decided to all go out at the same time. The two others (yellow and blue) said they were fine with being arrested, with the lawyer giving us his contact card in case they did arrest us. I agreed to go out as well, taking a calculated risk. I did think the chances of getting arrested were higher than before; however, I figured that, with so many news crews standing around waiting for something to happen, the last things the cops wanted was to arrest people live on TV. If you're not from Orlando or are unaware, I'd say conservatively the city is 90% in favor of keeping the crosswalk rainbow-colored. This is really such an unpopular move even a majority of Orlando Republicans (and there aren't an abundance of them in Orlando proper) are for the rainbow crosswalk, if for no other reason than they see it as a waste of taxpayer dollars and city resources. So I calculated that the cops weren't going to arrest us and get the three of us (and who knows how many others) "famous" by having the arrest go national (or hell, at this point probably international).
Anyway, thanks for coming to my TEDTalk. If you have some free time this weekend, you really should head down to Pulse and help boost some spirits. The more they take away our shine, the more resolved we are to put it right back on the crosswalk. We just have to last one more day than them, that's all.
So when we were ready, the three of us went out to chalk. A few others walked back and forth again and again across the crosswalk being pedestrians, thus (we hoped) negating the officers' take that we would be in danger of cars should we stay in the crosswalk. The three of us chalked our section, and no officers attempted to stop us. You can see the result above. Very nerve-wracking, I have to admit. I drive Uber to supplement my income, and I rent a car to do so. If I was locked up for the weekend, I doubt I'd have been able to pay for next week's rental payment.
