Illegal Protest

Finally some common sense questions about this Lakewood rally issue in the media! It’s absolutely RIDICULOUS how Lakewood and surrounding areas are treating its own legal citizens who are trying to exercise their right to free speech and protest illegal immigration. Perhaps Lakewood would rather allow gangs to run free in Lakewood or to have a citizen killed by a gang member for speaking out? If I lived in Lakewood, I would clean out every single traitorous leader in that town at the next election. It seems that includes ALL of them. Are there ANY leaders in Lakewood, NJ with a backbone???

Rally behind free speech

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/5/07

Enough is enough.

For months, Lakewood resident Diane Reaves has been attempting to hold a
peaceful rally against illegal immigration, but she has run into roadblocks at every turn. She and her supporters are trying to exercise their First Amendment right to free speech. Lakewood officials should accommodate them. They should make it clear they are welcome to protest in a public space and police will do everything possible to ensure their safety.
Reaves originally planned the rally for Aug. 25 in the Lakewood town
square, but it was canceled amid reports of planned gang retaliation.

The township said it would not provide an increased police presence for the rally because it was against its policy to do so for private functions. That’s ridiculous. Since when is a public protest a private event? Reaves’ group has every right to voice its opinions in a public place, and the township has an obligation to provide a safe environment.

After Reaves was snubbed by Lakewood, she tried to line up two other
venues - the local American Legion post and the Old Bridge Elks lodge.
Each initially agreed to make the facilities available before backing
out. Reaves was set to hire police officers to provide security for the
Old Bridge event when she received a message Tuesday that the lodge
would not host her rally because the Elks “were not sectarian and
non-political.”

It’s sickening that rallies held across the country protesting U.S. immigration policies - and swarming with illegal immigrants - received the police protection these legal U.S. citizens are being denied.

Lakewood wasted about $40,000 last year to provide a “muster zone” for contractors to hire mostly illegal immigrants. It went unused - the workers snubbed it - and was dismantled. Why can’t the town provide added security for a rally for its legal residents?

In a mass e-mail to her supporters, Reaves pleaded for someone to tell
her that her inability to find a site to hold a rally was a dream. Township officials and police in Lakewood should wake up instead, recognize her plight and help find a safe, public place for Reaves and her supporters to speak their minds.