Complaints,
again, have been filed with authorities in Asheville, N.C., over the
activities that happened during an annual “GoToplessDay” in the city,
where women strip to the waist in a protest against the “unequal rights”
that allow men to be bare-chested by not women.
The complaints were brought forward by former Asheville vice-mayor
and clinical psychologist Carl Mumpower, along with former Republican
County Party Chair Chad Nesbitt, who have been opposing the
exhibitionism in public.
Jeff Johnson, the general manager of his wife’s pediatric practice in
Huntsville, Ala., and the sponsor of the event, said nothing illegal
was occurring and the women were simply exercising their constitutional
rights.
Johnson likened the baring of women’s breasts in public to the civil
rights movement and condemned the city council and Asheville Mayor Terry
Bellamy for issuing a letter urging families and children to stay away
from the event.
“Apparently the mayor has forgotten 1964 and the Civil Rights
movement,” Johnson said. “As a matter of fact that is why she is the
mayor here and doesn’t have to sit in the back of the bus because of
those civil rights. We’re invoking those civil rights.”
But a video has been posted on YouTube revealing a man picking up a partially nude woman and sucking her breasts.
And another image has been uncovered clearly showing a man with his hand on a topless woman’s breasts.
“Some shared this picture with us … it shows a gentleman at the event
touching the breast of one of the performers. It is our understanding
those are two police officers in the background. This picture was posted
on the MountainX website until recently,” the email from Nesbitt and
Mumpower to Lt. Sean Pound of the Asheville police department said.
“As you know touching an exposed breast is against the law in strip
joints – may we safely assume it is also against the law in a public
park?” they asked.
The
YouTube video has been locked behind a website procedure in which those
who want to view it must log in and verify their age. The image from the MountainX site cannot be reproduced or linked here.
On the issue of the video, the complaint explains, the “officers on
duty failed to arrest a gentleman who, at one point in the event, made
oral connection with a woman’s exposed breast and nipple.”
The complaint also noted that minors were present and that it was
unlikely the man needed to be breast fed in public, which is legal under
the law. “He was above the age of one who might be seeking nutritional
support.”
Several women present also had their breasts painted with the words,
“The warship Christ,” a reference to a local punk rock band.
Richard Bernier, who was present at both last year’s event as well as
this year’s, said the attendance was significantly less than last year,
by as much as 90 percent.
“It was nothing like last year, I think part of it had to do with the
city council issuing a letter basically telling people not to go to the
event,” he said. “Others undoubtedly stayed away because they didn’t
want to be photographed and have videos of them posted all over the
Internet.”
This year, Mumpower and Nesbitt sponsored a photo contest in an
attempt to shame parents into keeping their children at home that day.
The contest offered a $200 prize for several categories including
most degrading event moment for women, most degrading example of public
sexual performance and most degrading example of child abuse.
The Daily Mail also reported while there were hundreds of gawkers,
there were only about a dozen participants. However, by contrast
Mumpower says there were 14 police officers present including a visit by
the police chief.
The incident in the complaint, including the police failure to prevent the act, was eerily similar to last year’s event.
WND reported how last year Mumpower and others produced photographic
evidence that the law was in fact violated, including pictures showing
children as young as 3 or 4 years old watching the nude-fest. Some
evidence also suggested that underage girls were among the
exhibitionists who stripped nude to the waist.
“This year, we had more police officers present than there were
protesters, yet they either did not notice this incident, they were
either asleep, indifferent or something. Cameras don’t lie,” Mumpower
said.
Interestingly, a YouTube video posted by Bernier was taken down for
violating the website’s decency standards and his account was threatened
with suspension if he posted a similar video in the next six months.
“They told me my video of the event did not meet community standards
and they removed it,” Bernier said. “They then sent me a letter saying I
would have my account suspended if I posted a similar video in the next
six months. That is a real concern because I currently have over 300
videos up on the site.”
Johnson said he was pleased with the event and hopes to host another one next year.
Despite being in the Bible belt, Ashville is considered to be one of
the most liberal cities in America and has been called the “east-coast
San Francisco” and the “Paris of the South.” The local Chamber of
Commerce slogan is, “Asheville – Any way you like it.”
The current applicable law states that anyone over 18 “who shall
willfully expose the private parts of his or her person in any public
place in the presence of any other person less than 16 years of age for
the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire shall be guilty of a
Class H felony.”
Following last year’s event, Mumpower and others filed a child abuse
complaint that stated among other things that city supported the event
by allowing it on public property but failed to enforce the law, despite
activities that were clearly illegal.
“Event organizers allowed underage teens to directly participate in
the event – including displaying their breasts to public and peer
review,” the complaint stated. “Children were in broad attendance at the
event and directly observed festive, suggestive, and indiscrete sexual
behavior by the adult participants.”
Lt. Wally Welch with the Asheville Police Department said that
despite the photographs showing underage children being present,
officers saw no sign of any children participating in the events. “None
of the officers that monitored that particular event took notice of
anyone underage participating,” Welch said then.
http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/complaints-of-illegal-behavior-again-follow-nude-fest/
U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro was shouted down by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they met in Israel to discuss the Obama administration’s position on Iran. “Time has run out,” the Prime Minister exclaimed.
