http://www.apbnews.com/newscenter/breakingnews/1999/12/03/gasmasks1203_01.html?s=emil
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Company to Sue Seattle Over Gas
Mask Ban
City Outlawed Devices During WTO Protests
Dec. 3, 1999
By Amy Worden
SEATTLE (APBnews.com) -- A Maine
business that touts itself as the world's
leading retailer of gas masks is planning to file
suit against the city for banning the devices
during the violent protests over the World
Trade Organization meeting.
Mark Miclette, founder and president of Gas
Masks Inc., said he will challenge the ban on
constitutional grounds and because it violates
federal law.
"It's a direct violation of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996,
which allows Americans to carry gas masks, and it's unconstitutional,"
said Miclette. "The city doesn't have the right to suspend the law just
because of an incident in the town."
Mayor Paul Schell declared the ban on gas masks as part of the civil
emergency plan issued Wednesday when protests against the World Trade
Organization escalated to citywide rioting. It is expected to be lifted at the
close of the conference tonight, police said.
Ban enacted to protect police
City spokesman Dick Lilly told APBnews.com
the ban was enacted to protect police from
"disruptive protestors."
"It was so they could not defend themselves
from police," who were armed with tear gas,
he said.
Seattle police officials said an exception was
made for journalists covering the event, many
of whom were issued gas masks by their
employers.
Kimberly Wilson, a reporter covering the story
for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, said police
seized a foreign journalist's gas mask. Wilson
said most reporters for the Post-Intelligencer
used gas masks during the riots and said she
"wouldn't have been out there without one."
A police spokesman said he was unaware of
the incident involving the journalist, but that
there was a strong likelihood that some gas
masks were seized this week and that
violators could be prosecuted.
"I imagine when [the journalists] were outside in the street and you had a
gas mask on and failed to disperse, a reporter could have been ordered to
turn it over," said Officer David Ellithorpe.
'I was totally outraged'
Since the conference began Nov. 27, there have been 587 protest-related
arrests, police said today. Violators of the ban face up to 180 days in jail
and a maximum $500 fine.
As word of the lawsuit has spread, Miclette has received "hundreds" of
e-mails in support of his case, he said.
"When I heard about the ban, I was totally outraged," he said. "I had to
fight it because this is our business and our right."
Miclette said his company, which markets a wide range of survival
equipment through catalogues and its Web site, is the world's leading
retailer of gas masks. The masks range from $130 models for infants to a
motorized mask with filters for $500. The company is about to release its
first gas mask for pets.
Amy Worden is an APBnews.com staff writer (amy.worden@apbnews.com).[/quote]
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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Company to Sue Seattle Over Gas
Mask Ban
City Outlawed Devices During WTO Protests
Dec. 3, 1999
By Amy Worden
SEATTLE (APBnews.com) -- A Maine
business that touts itself as the world's
leading retailer of gas masks is planning to file
suit against the city for banning the devices
during the violent protests over the World
Trade Organization meeting.
Mark Miclette, founder and president of Gas
Masks Inc., said he will challenge the ban on
constitutional grounds and because it violates
federal law.
"It's a direct violation of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996,
which allows Americans to carry gas masks, and it's unconstitutional,"
said Miclette. "The city doesn't have the right to suspend the law just
because of an incident in the town."
Mayor Paul Schell declared the ban on gas masks as part of the civil
emergency plan issued Wednesday when protests against the World Trade
Organization escalated to citywide rioting. It is expected to be lifted at the
close of the conference tonight, police said.
Ban enacted to protect police
City spokesman Dick Lilly told APBnews.com
the ban was enacted to protect police from
"disruptive protestors."
"It was so they could not defend themselves
from police," who were armed with tear gas,
he said.
Seattle police officials said an exception was
made for journalists covering the event, many
of whom were issued gas masks by their
employers.
Kimberly Wilson, a reporter covering the story
for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, said police
seized a foreign journalist's gas mask. Wilson
said most reporters for the Post-Intelligencer
used gas masks during the riots and said she
"wouldn't have been out there without one."
A police spokesman said he was unaware of
the incident involving the journalist, but that
there was a strong likelihood that some gas
masks were seized this week and that
violators could be prosecuted.
"I imagine when [the journalists] were outside in the street and you had a
gas mask on and failed to disperse, a reporter could have been ordered to
turn it over," said Officer David Ellithorpe.
'I was totally outraged'
Since the conference began Nov. 27, there have been 587 protest-related
arrests, police said today. Violators of the ban face up to 180 days in jail
and a maximum $500 fine.
As word of the lawsuit has spread, Miclette has received "hundreds" of
e-mails in support of his case, he said.
"When I heard about the ban, I was totally outraged," he said. "I had to
fight it because this is our business and our right."
Miclette said his company, which markets a wide range of survival
equipment through catalogues and its Web site, is the world's leading
retailer of gas masks. The masks range from $130 models for infants to a
motorized mask with filters for $500. The company is about to release its
first gas mask for pets.
Amy Worden is an APBnews.com staff writer (amy.worden@apbnews.com).[/quote]
------------------
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!