Upset about being on an arbitrary list. No protest, no buy.
Via CBS News:
Weeks out from the Republican National Convention, Cleveland law enforcement has commenced “door knock” visits to the homes of local organizers and activists.
This reconnaissance mission, which the FBI confirmed to the Cleveland Plain Dealer and described as “community outreach,” is what Jocelyn Rosnick and Jacqueline Greene of the Ohio chapter of the National Lawyers Guild call a blatant intimidation tactic.
The two received reports from activists and their friends and family of officers repeatedly ringing doorbells, surveilling their homes and appearing unannounced on private property – even after people stated that they did not wish to engage in conversation about what they may or may not know about convention protest planning.
People have also reported that officers have been “photo flashing” at their doors, asking them to identify pictures of various individuals.
“Officer and agent conduct at some people’s homes have been unprofessional and inappropriate, and in some cases we’ve seen officers refuse to leave their cars or identify themselves by name,” Greene, an attorney at Friedman and Gilbert, told CBS News.
“You’re crossing the line from investigation to harassment and at the point that officers are intentionally intimidating people or engaging in repetitive attempts to coerce or goad people into talking when they’ve made it clear they don’t want to talk,” Greene added.
The FBI did not respond to CBS News’ request for comment.
When Rosnick and Greene aren’t defending the civil rights of their clients by day, the duo can be found fronting workshops educating community activists of their basic human rights.
On Friday night, the two lawyers conducted a workshop attended by local activists, organizers and lawyers titled “Know Your Rights,” where they discussed handling door knocks from law enforcement, protest rights and the arrest process.
In bookstores, schools, nooks and crannies around the city in the weeks leading up to what will likely be a volatile Republican National Convention, they will continue to host sessions open to the public to prepare those who plan on protesting the Donald Trump show.
Attorney James Hardiman, vice president of the NAACP of Cleveland, and Gordon Friedman, a partner at Friedman and Gilbert, where he practices criminal defense, and an adjunct professor at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, sat in on Friday’s session. Ohio jail support pamphlets were handed out along with slips of green paper with a jail support hotline and a script in the case of an arrest or a detainment: “I am going to remain silent. I do not consent to a search. I want a lawyer.”