Durham Man Expelled from Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit

Source: WRAL-TV

Durham man expelled from Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit
Posted: Today at 6:10 p.m.

RALEIGH, N.C. — A Durham man wearing a shirt criticizing Israel and instructing people not to buy tickets to see the Dead Sea Scrolls was expelled from the exhibit and asked to leave the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, museum spokeswoman Emelia Cowans said.

D.J. Register, who is a volunteer escort for the elderly, brought a holocaust survivor to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the museum on Friday, Cowans said.

When Register started walking around the museum, employees asked him to either turn his shirt inside out or zip up his jacket. When Register refused he was asked to leave the museum because he did not have a permit to protest in a state government building. Both Register and the woman he was escorting were refunded the money for the exhibit tickets.

The exhibit began June 28 at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and ended Sunday. The exhibit originally was supposed to end Dec. 28 but was extended.

Read more: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4242427

don't care for your politics, this is history

And my favorite was actually the bronze scroll that came from the Jordan Museum

Followed by the Scroll of Isaiah, which I could almost read

We saw it last year when it came to San Diego

The people have the right to know! :P

:-)

It was awesome.

Cohen v. California lets you wear a political message in a public building and the government cannot throw you out because they do not like the content of the message. In Cohen it was "Fuck the Draft" on a jacket in a Courthouse. A government sponsored museum is no different. People wear logos and jokes on T-shirts all the time.

When did this country stop having free speech?

Someone is engaging in free speech (through a T-shirt no less) and you believe in "free speech" depending on what was said. So it's free speech only if you agree with it. Otherwise, not so much.

Would you support a person walking into a history museum for African-Americans with a t-shirt saying "Swing LO..." and a picture of a lynched Black person? (Yes, this is a REAL t-shirt!)

I would also support the right of the various Nazi organizations to march and wear their silly uniforms and deny that the holocaust happened. And the right of various Xian organizations to peacefully protest a set distance from abortion clinics. And the right of anti-war protesters to protest at speeches given by both Bush the lesser and by Barack Obama.

You see, you either HAVE free speech or you don't. You can't really pick and choose.

The only restriction on free speech is when it uttered in direct and personal threat (Cry "fire" in the theater is the classic example).

But a T-shirt that says "Israel sucks" or "Hitler was right" or "Hamas is horrible" or whatever... that may be offensive to some group, maybe even the majority of people, but it's still part of living with freedom.

Join the ACLU. They defend free speech by everyone, even those we disagree with.

There is a difference between protesting and walking into a place with something designed to incite. You do know the difference don't you? This is why I asked what was said on the t-shirt. There is a difference between "Boycott Israel" and "Death to Israel."

Oh, BTW, you can get the "Swing Lo!" t-shirt on-line. You should get one. Then, walk into a museum for American-American history and proclaim your right to "free speech." It will be interesting to see the court case.

I have been a member of the ACLU. Let it lapse with all my groups. I don't pay anyone anything except local charities, pet charities, and Darfur.

concept of "free speech".

I will only wear T-shirts that put forth something that I believe. And I am a more reasonable person, so I would even not wear my "Fuck Bush" T-shirt to a Republican rally (mostly because I don't really want to ever go to a republican rally).

But if I did, I would win the court case (there is a great deal of case law to support the right of free speech).

Read this decision here: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=107690

Sadly, people like you (who believe in free speech only so long as it doesn't offend someone, especially you), seem hell bent on overturning decades of case law by inventing concepts like "hate speech". Yes, there is "hate speech", there are many examples... like these assholes:



But it shouldn't be illegal.

But I don't want to see them arrested and jailed for their "hate". I want them arrested, convicted, and jailed for their ACTIONS, not their words. If they don't commit any actions which are hate related, then let them protest and march and wear T-shirts. Who does this really hurt? To me, it just makes them look to be as stupid as we actually know them to be. And dismissed as such. By elevating their stupidity to something that's "illegal" or even "not allowed", you say that you are AFRAID of what they have to say, so fearful that it must be repressed. And that's the danger of a closed society.

In Europe, the government(s) banned the Nazi Party after WW2 and now ban their literature.

It seems amazing to me that US government power was used to destroy the "Bolshevik Party" that was only really relevant to the Eurasian countries where it formed. I don't think the Soviet system would have ever overtaken us.

*The Federal Bureau of Investigation

for that excellent defense of free speech!

Too many Americans really aren't at all aware of exactly how Constitutional rights work. Fact is, true freedom is messy stuff. People who want it nice and tidy with no shouting, no rudeness, no ridiculous overstatement, no protest, no disagreement don't really want freedom. They really want something more authoritarian.

It's been a frequent GOP argument: "People fought hard for your freedoms - how dare you use them!!!!" (I wonder if they go to dinner parties and say "Wanda worked her fingers to the bone making this meal - how dare you eat it!") I'm just surprised to see it come from those presenting themselves as Democrats.

I'm not sure how you feel that relates to this issue. Wearing a T-shirt - no matter what it says - is hardly the equivalent of endangering lives. They are two very different things and the courts have consistently ruled so.

I totally agree with you for the record - I was just meaning to point out the only place where freedom of speech is possibly restricted. Even then, going through some of the court cases that fall under this, a lot were overturned or thrown out because it is such a fine line.

I've done the same thing myself. More than once. :)

and it has--like Radio Machete for its role in the Rwandan genocide. But short of that I agree with you.

It's not a proper venue for any sort of protest.

That "sort of protest" doesn't need to be anywhere "proper"... it's called Freedom of Speech

proper venue? my ass. This sounds like Bush and his "free speech" zones he had the SS create over the past 8 years.

It's not a proper venue. Would you be happy with Christian fundamentalists protesting dinosaur exhibits? It's. A. Museum. Protest outside until your heart's content. But the people inside are trying to learn, and it IS NOT a proper venue for a protest.

there IS, however, a big difference between private property and public property. Which is why showing up to protest at, say, a Republican event inside a hotel conference room is grounds to be arrested for trespassing. However, doing the same protest outside on the sidewalk is perfectly OK. Free speech "zones" are one thing I hope that President Obama does away with.

But there are two questions that need to be answered.

First, does wearing a T-shirt with something printed on it meet a requirement of "protest speech"?

Second, is the museum in question a private museum (not supported by taxpayers) or a public museum? If private, they can ask anyone in the museum that they don't like (almost arbitrary, but not quite) to leave. If the person refuses, they can have the police arrest him or her for trespass.

The first can almost universally be answered "yes". The second depends on the institution.

which is why it must be supported even in difficult situations. Especially in difficult situations.

I just love how some AIPAC supporters get totally unhinged and claim that reasoned analysis of the I/P issues is somehow anti-semitic. Luckily, people here (in the US) are realizing that Israel comes to the table with very dirty (bloody) hands.

You spread the same bullshit all over the place.

called a mirror.

ignoring bias, stupidity, and willful ignorance is so useful.

Of course, I will still see all of your stupid remarks, half-truths, and hate-filled remarks, as well as all that lovely anti-Israel propaganda you are so very fond of, but at least I won't have to hear your droning and stupid remarks directed at me.

on any given Saturday, half the residents of this county should be arrested on sight. As should a large number of people in every city/town/village in the United States.

LOVE to throw your ass in jail for not being properly cowed and supportive of Israel. If we do not accept their position that Israel is always right, and can never be criticized, watch out.

As I learned more, I came to have a more rational view. I don't want to hijack someone else's thread, so I won't go into it, but I agree with you - it's all about suppressing the discussion. I have an instinctive distrust for anyone who spends much energy running around telling other people what not to talk about.

Somehow I think not.

he was telling people not to buy tickets. That's usually a good reason to kick anyone out.

has a sign - probably right in front - that says they reserve the right to kick anyone out. Just about every museum in NY has it. It's not public property and it was not the government that kicked him out - that's the only thing the first amendment protects you from. It doesn't protect you from being an asshole.

...but that's really not relevant. The Supreme Court has ruled on numerous occasions that public property is not inherently an appropriate venue for running a protest, especially without a permit (were it so, you can imagine what fun could be had with high schools, etc.)

I've no idea whether or not what this man did rises to the level of a "protest" because the article is very vague on exactly what he did.

He wears a t-shirt instructing people not to buy tickets to see the exhibit and he's INSIDE the exhibit! wtf? A little late don't you think? The only people that are going to see his shirt already bought tickets. Not only that, he was escorting an elderly lady through the exhibit. If he was true to his cause, he wouldn't be in the exhibit in the first place and he would have refused to escort the woman. This guy gets no sympathy from me.

And the reaction of the museum and police also makes no sense

... have a responsibility to protect its priceless contents, including those on loan to it. Outside is public space. Inside is museum space, whether privately or publicly owned.

Suppose someone gets into a shoving match -- not an unheard of event at any protest -- then what?

For the love of Pete, what do priceless antiquities like the Dead Sea Scrolls have to do with the modern State of Israel and its politics?

Hekate

Sign-wearing man expelled from exhibit of Dead Sea Scrolls
T. Keung Hui - Staff Writer
Published: Sun, Jan. 04, 2009 12:30AM
Modified Sun, Jan. 04, 2009 01:20AM

RALEIGH -- A self-described "provocative social activist" was expelled from the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the N.C. Museum of Natural Science after refusing to remove a sign criticizing Israel. D.J. Register of Durham drew complaints at the museum Friday with a sign on his shirt saying "Remember Palestinan Oppression," "Boycott Israel" and "Don't Buy Dead Sea Scroll Tickets" ... http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1354179.html

People pay to enjoy the exhibits, and so museums will often eject people who wear profane or objectionable messages on their bods. Even though it may be run by the government certain rules apply. You could also argue that a government run facility shouldn't feature exhibits of a religious nature, but go figure, they do.