Testimony: ‘Sadly, this bill tries to shoot the messenger’

Among the testimony at this morning’s Senate committee hearing on HB 404, the anti-Occupy Boise bill:

Katie Fite of Boise told the committee, “This bill refers to aesthetic standards. … The colorful tents are a vibrant symbol of the Occupy movement. … They embody democratic principles, people willing to keep a vigil through the dark days of winter, to tell the story of the banks’ reckless looting of the American people, of what happens when corporations are given the same rights as people. … Sadly this bill tries to shoot the messenger, to silence a message that is resonating with more and more people.”

Gene Bray of Meridian, an 80-year-old Navy veteran, told lawmakers, “HB 404 as written is regressive, revisionist, and attempts to relegate our 1st Amendment rights to the back of the bus.”

Dwight Scarborough of Boise noted that he lives in District 21 and Sen. Russ Fulcher, who’s on the committee, is his senator; Fulcher smiled and nodded to him. A Navy veteran, Scarborough said, “I served my country with honor and distinction. One of the reasons I served is to protect our 1st Amendment rights.” He urged the senators to vote against HB 404, “because it is absolutely an attempt to step on our 1st Amendment rights.”

Alan Anderson said, “The Occupy movement represents an attempt to bring to your attention very serious problems facing this state and this country involving corporate control and etc. and etc. And it’s very much a waste of your time to be trying to mask the symptoms of the problem … than to be addressing the problems themselves.”

Veteran John C. McMahon said, “We have taken care of the place. As far as the aesthetics go, you may notice … we raked all the leaves.” He said, “The larger issue here is that I don’t think very many people are very comfortable with our message, and our message is that we’re not very happy with the way some of us are being represented in the U.S. Congress and maybe even in this body.”