Incident at Loews for the Fahrenheit 9/11 Showing

The following is the account from a fellow activist and what she experienced when she tried to pass out pamphlets after the showing of Michael Moore's Farenheit 911 at the Loews in Indianapolis. The names of the innocent have been redacted by yours truly.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar to this?

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2004 9:29 PM
Subject: Incident at Loews for the F9/11 Showing

Well, Fahrenheit 9/11 is a GREAT documentary about Bush, the lies. the oil, the connections between the Bush and bin Laden families, the war, the erosion of our civil liberties ... and since I'm having an F9/11 Burning Bush House Party (complete with a conference call from Michael Moore on Monday evening), I took flyers to Loew's Cinema that tell folks who have seen the film "Five Things You Can Do to Keep the Heat Up." Of course, one thing that's mentioned right up at the top is to register to vote ... and one of the others is to attend one of the F9/11 house parties on Monday evening.

As I exited the theater after the 4:15 showing, so many people were asking me for the flyers that I really didn't have to thrust them onto anyone. But the young managers at Loews -- who obviously haven't seen Michael Moore's film or are just fascists or both -- called the Marion County Sheriff's office to send a couple of officers to either escort me off the premises or throw me in jail.

A group of us were standing outside the theater talking (like people DO when they've bought tickets to see a film and are waiting for friends or have run into friends as they crossed paths). When I argued my points about freedom of speech and noted that I wasn't "soliciting," the theater manager then looked at the crowd close to me and demanded to know if they were planning to see the movie. Several had just seen it and more were waiting for the next show.

The Loews punk then told Carl RM and a few others that they HAD to go in "right now" IF they planned to see the movie ... no lingering talking to friends, even though the movie had nearly 30 minutes to start. Those in the group maintained their ground and I was told to either leave, have the sheriff's officers arrest me, or buy another ticket and GO INSIDE RIGHT THEN. With *just* that emphasis. Meanwhile, two sheriff's officers were at my back. Not wanting to be the cause of anyone getting booted off the premises before they could see the film -- and having planned a dinner at a restaurant next door to the theater -- Lois S. and I walked to the outer edge of the parking lot and continued handing out flyers. If plans involving others hadn't been in the works, I would have pushed the young nazi to see if he would have had me arrested.

Interestingly, another fellow had been registering people to vote on the outside of the theater when I arrived earlier and Loews threatened to have HIM arrested. He battled with them for a bit, then gave up, but said he was going to see an attorney about it.

All I could think was how fearful of democracy this film has made the neocons -- and the plain old rabid right-wingers. If Michael Moore's movie can cause this much fear among the Right, then we'd better see it as many times as possible -- and send as many others to see it -- before it's canned! I plan on going to see it again tomorrow at the Regal in Carmel ... just to see what type of reaction the Hamilton County crowd gives it. Maybe it will so infuriate me that I'll have to go back to Loews with my flyers. And I will speak with Ken Falk at the ICLU about the incident. (Ken Falk is the head of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union. IG)

As an aside, the newscaster from Fox 59 told me that she plans to come to my house party on Monday evening with her film crew (but will call me in the afternoon). Their spin on the house party will most likely be as uneventful and inaccurate as was Channel 6's coverage of the event at Loews -- typical of what we've come to expect from the mainstream press as we continue to get Bushwhacked.

In Continuing Shock and Awe ;-) Cate

and you were causing a crowd to gather.. I would have done the same thing, and I love Fahrenheit 9-11.. Just because your paranoid doesnt mean we aint out to get ya:)

Many private businesses have anti-soliciting rules. And they specify this. They also reserve the right to tell you to cease doing this, or remove you from the property, or to call law enforcement authorities.

We do have a First Amendment, but it does not give people the right to annoy others. People should not be rude when handing out literature. If the theater thinks it is disruptive, then they have the right to tell a person not to do it on their property.

Sorry to disagree with the person who wrote this, but it is the law. It is not Loews acting like facists. The theater may have been pretty rude about it, but likely they had their hands full with all the activity going on.

I've done the same thing before (I had my own business and handed out literature at a strip mall, and then told to cease). If they have a 'no soliciting' law, they are within their rights to stop it, so long as they do it in a polite manner.

The key is, if a person wants to distribute literature, do so in a legal manner, and not in a way that will turn patrons off. I often go out of my way to avoid people handing out religious tracts. I'm sure many others are turned off by these tactics.

My idea: Let the movie speak for itself. People will make up their own minds. And from the response I've heard, I'm sure many are doing just that.

Let's not hurt our cause.

Where, exactly, are the town commons these days? In most places, the local mall. That's why dozens of court cases have been filed arguing First Amendment rights in these "private" spaces. So far, mixed results.

for wearing them at a mall (I think it was in Ohio), this despite the fact that they bought the T-shirts at one of the mall's shops?

When property rights trump individual rights, that's when freedom is lost! We are talking about corporate property in here. Corporations own the media and control the message that the public gets. Corporations help sell the war in Iraq, they spread the lies about WMDs while ignoring coverage of the antiwar movement.

I wonder if the movie people have seen the movie?

It keeps the unions out, and it also keeps out groups that may cause embarassment or trouble.