KU fan standing up to "the man" ..... er, fife

[Anyong Bluth]

KU fan will go to trial in Columbia

Associated Press


LAWRENCE, Kan. - A former University of Kansas student arrested during an altercation with the University of Missouri-Columbia police chief during a basketball game between the two rival schools plans to contest the trespassing charge next week.

Andrew Wymore, who says he doesn't want to accept a plea bargain offered to him, is scheduled for trial in municipal court in Columbia, Mo., on Aug. 3.

Wymore, who lives in the Kansas City suburb of Leawood, Kan., was arrested following a dispute when he and three other Kansas fans unfurled a 6-foot-long banner over a railing at Mizzou Arena on March 6.

The banner had several suggested names for the new arena crossed out, ending with this line: "Call it what you want, it'll always be Allen Fieldhouse East," in reference to the Kansas basketball arena in Lawrence.

A man later identified as University of Missouri Police Chief Jack Watring complained about the banner and asked to have it removed. When Watring began taking it down, Kansas student Chris Kaufman protested and asked to be allowed to take it down himself.

Kaufman said that after a brief argument, Watring grabbed his shirt and said, "Do you know who I am? I'm the police chief of the University of Missouri."

Wymore said he was at a concession stand, returning at the end of the argument when Watring and another officer took the fans to the concourse for a discussion. Wymore said he was ejected from the arena after saying that the sign was Kaufman's property.

Wymore was later arrested for trespassing after he bought another ticket and tried to re-enter.

"I was a ticketed fan, and they ejected me for trespassing for absolutely no reason at all," Wymore said.

He said he was offered a $50 plea bargain on the trespassing charge, which could carry a fine of $115, according to the court's Web site. But he said he wouldn't accept that and has hired a Columbia attorney to try the case.

"It's just the principal of the matter," Wymore said.

A spokesman for the Columbia city prosecutor's office said it was policy not to comment on pending cases.

[Mr. Kotter]

Rock Chalk, Jayhawk...

go, KU! :KU:

Heh.

[DJay23]

What's the law for trespassing? He was obviously kicked out, but if they really didn't want him to come back in, couldn't they have denied his second ticket purchase?

As much as I hate Mizzou, I would have cut my losses and moved on. Fighting it seems stupid to me.

[Skip Towne]

What a joke.

[WilliamTheIrish]

If the banner would have been somewhat original I'd contest it.

All that brainpower wasted.

Alas...

[CoMoChief]

Columbia Cops are ****in jokes anyway.

The cops down there ever since a shooting of a female officer think they're the second coming of Jesus, driving their patrol cars like they're Batman for pulling over someone that has a taillight missing, then instead of giving a notice that it needs to be replaced, they give tickets, ****in assholes.

[KCChiefsMan]

I think it's BS that he had to remove a sign that just said "Call it what you want, it will always be Allen Fieldhouse East"

there's no harm in that, just another cop trying to push his weight around

[Anyong Bluth]

it was a case of abuse. An MU fan whose daughter attends mizzou right now was right there and is going to testify about how out of line the cops were in the situation. He was in the paper and said something that even with all the losing and shady conduct this just tops it for being ashamed of MU

[Logical]

Both sides seem overzealous if you ask me, but the guy contesting a 50 dollar fine while he will have to pay a lawyer a minimum of 150 dollars per billable hour to have a chance of winning is just downright ignorant.

[Anyong Bluth]

or the lawyer he retained free legal services since hes a student from the law school. this case is pretty slam dunk with eye witness testimony.

Tell me how stupid you think it is if you got escorted out of Mile High for posting a non-offensive sign? Its only the 1st Amendment

[Misplaced_Chiefs_Fan]

1st Amendment has nothing to do with it.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; <b>or abridging the freedom of speech</b>, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The courts have always ruled that a private organization or business (to include stadiums and arenas) can regulate any speech they want. Same with Bulletin Boards, Television Stations, Radio Stations, etc.

While I'm not disagreeing that this was a pretty silly altercation all the way around, I've seen lots of signs and banners taken down at stadiums all around the country, esp. when put up by fans of the opposing team. A lot of stadiums have specific rules about how big a sign/banner can be and if it's considered interferring with another fan's enjoyment of the game (obstructing vision, etc.), stadium security will generally secure it and NOT return it.

There's no 1st Amendment right to post a banner in any stadium or arena in the country as they're private property or at least controlled state/city property and not considered public (like a park or a city street).

In fact, if you were walking down the street with a banner big enough to block the sidewalk so people couldn't get past, I imagine the boys in blue would show up and ask you to move it also.

[Anyong Bluth]

the cop is an agent of the state... at a state funded university. This wasn't a situation as you describe. No one was being blocked by the sign, they were sitting above and hung it over the railing. They asked about putting up the sign and then the asshole cop decided to throw his weight around b/c he didn't like the sign.

When he used his status as a cop, even though he wasn't on duty and simply attending the game, he acted as a agent and not simply a fan.

I'll see if I can find the original stories. This is nothing more than a twit cop trying to bully and the hillbilly is too dense to realize the ramification when citizens don't simply lay down and accept pleas for the sake of making it go away

[Anyong Bluth]

Here's the story, and the kids asked the usher for permission to post the banner. Read th MU fans reaction. Sorry, but this is just an asshole cop throwing his weight around and another showcase of abuse of power. However minor it may seem to you- what is going to stop him from doing this in other instances with greater consequencs?


Fans lodge complaints against Mizzou's chief of police after game
By Terry Rombeck, Staff Reporter

Wednesday, March 9, 2005

Four Kansas University fans thought they had spent their time and $35 at Kinko's on a special banner for an afternoon of taunting Tiger fans at Sunday's basketball game against the University of Missouri.

Instead, they say, an argument over the sign ended with one fan in jail and another assaulted after an altercation with an MU fan who turned out to be Jack Watring, the chief of the Columbia campus' police department.

MU officials say they're investigating the incident, which even one Tiger diehard called outrageous.

The incident involved KU fans Chris Kaufman, a senior from Denver; Rich Littrell, a junior from Lee's Summit, Mo.; and KU alumni Christian Green of North Kansas City, Mo., and Andrew Wymore of Leawood.

Prior to the game, the KU fans say, they unfurled a 6-foot-long banner over the second-tier railing at Mizzou Arena. The banner had several names of Missouri's arenas crossed out, followed by the line: "Call it what you want, it'll always be Allen Fieldhouse East."

Littrell said the friends, who were sitting two rows above the railing, had permission from an usher to have the banner in place unless someone complained about it.

Kaufman said a man sitting below them later complained about the banner and asked to have it removed.

Kaufman said when the man -- who he later learned was Watring -- began taking the sign down, he told the chief he wanted to remove it himself because he planned to keep the sign. The two had a brief argument about who would keep the banner.

Chris Kaufman, left, claims he was assaulted by Jack Watring, chief of the MU Police Department, at the KU-MU game Sunday. Kaufman attended the game with two of his buddies, Andrew Wymore and Rich Littrell. The KU fans got into an argument with Watring over the sign below.

"Finally, he lets go of the poster, grabs my shirt and said, ‘Do you know who I am? I'm the police chief of the University of Missouri,'" Kaufman said. "I'm thinking in my head, ‘I don't really care who you are.'"

MU fan reacts

"It was totally inappropriate and totally out of line," said Barry Lewis, a former Missouri legislator and MU fan who watched the incident. "It was an overreaction to the situation. The kid was polite in every single way. There's no way kids should be roughed up and assaulted like that."

Lewis, who now lives in New Jersey and has a son attending MU, said he was concerned Kaufman would fall after being grabbed.

"The kid was startled, and I was afraid he was going over the railing," Lewis said.
An MU police officer appeared on the scene and the group went to the concourse to discuss the incident. Wymore said he was ejected from the arena by Watring after saying, "That's his property," in reference to the sign and Kaufman.

Wymore said an officer told him he could not re-enter the arena using the ticket he had in hand. He was later arrested for trespassing when he purchased another ticket and attempted to re-enter the arena.

He was taken to the Boone County Jail, where his friends later posted $500 bond to have him released. He's scheduled to appear in court March 16.

Kaufman said Watring also threatened to eject the other friends from the arena.

Complaints filed

"I'd describe it as an abuse of power," Kaufman said. "He assaulted me and verbally threatened us for no reason at all."

Kaufman and Lewis have since filed a police report with the MU Police Department and with Jackie Jones, the vice chancellor who oversees Watring. Kaufman said he also filed a complaint with Missouri Atty. Gen. Jay Nixon.

"I was embarrassed," Lewis said. "I felt bad for the college. It's a basketball game at a college, for God's sake. It's a hot game between two rival schools. If you don't want to see that, stay home."

Christian Basi, an MU spokesman, declined to discuss specifics of the incident or the investigation. Watring declined to comment on the case through Basi.

"It's not something (Watring) could comment on," Basi said. "It's a situation where unfortunately we're bound by certain disclosure rules."

Wymore said he felt he and his friends were treated unfairly simply because they were Jayhawk fans.

"I think that's pretty self-evident," he said. "We were homered throughout the entire deal. Even in victory, they can't do it right."

[KC Kings]

it was a case of abuse. An MU fan whose daughter attends mizzou right now was right there and is going to testify about how out of line the cops were in the situation. He was in the paper and said something that even with all the losing and shady conduct this just tops it for being ashamed of MU

For all of the events that have occured in the last 2 years that would give you a reason to be ashamed of Mizzou, this isn't very high on my list. I wasn't there and don't know what happened, but regardless of school I have to hear the grown adults version of the story before I made judgement only hearing the version from the college kid.

It wouldn't surprise me if it did happen though, because you have to understand what it is like to be a Mizzou fans. You hate the Jayhawks, and they always kick your azz in basketball. You hat the Jayhawks and when you kick thier azz in football they average 26 people a game and nobody cars, then they turn around and kick your azz at football 2 years running and all of a sudden you see KU gear being worn in the summer. It is a lose-lose situation, and Mizzou never sucks quite bad enough for quite long enough time to lose it's fans.

That being said I don't condone any harassment other than trash talk, and that is only if the visiting fan starts it. I have been the minority opposing fan in Steelers Bars, Raiders bars in Oakland (while they were in LA), at Candlestick, and at the Georgia Dome. Harassment from the home-team fans can ruin your entire experience, and with the exception of Candlestick there have always been other home-team fans that stepped in and told the offenders to cool down if things got to tense. Everybody like to hate a rival, but you have to be smart enough to know when enough it enough.

[Anyong Bluth]

I agree Kings, so whats you're take when an MU "adult" fan gave his view point in story I just posted?

Jack Watring, chief of the MU Police Departmenthttp://www.radioblogger.com/images/barney.JPG

[Poster Nutbag]

The courts have always ruled that a private organization or business (to include stadiums and arenas) can regulate any speech they want. Same with Bulletin Boards, Television Stations, Radio Stations, etc.



Since when is the University of Missouri a private organization or business? I can understand a pro arena or private school but your argument doesn't hold up here.

[KC Kings]

I agree Kings, so whats you're take when an MU "adult" fan gave his view point in story I just posted?




After reading his view point I think you have to believe the cop was in the wrong.

If the kids were drinking they would have been busted for an alcohol related offense. These kids 1. Go to a reputable collage, 2. had the banner made professionally, 3. have extra money to pay for another ticket after getting kicked out, and 4. are sober. Not to mention that they filed a complaint against the police and they probably wouldn't have done so if the police had a leg to stand on.

To bad the ex-legistature didn't have the balls to voice his oppinion as the incident was occuring.

[gblowfish]

Don't worry. I'm sure the Columbia municipal court will give a fair and unbiased verdict in this case.

[Misplaced_Chiefs_Fan]

Since when is the University of Missouri a private organization or business? I can understand a pro arena or private school but your argument doesn't hold up here.

Whether the University (or ANY university) is funded by the state is immaterial to the question of the First Amendment. It is private property, no matter where its funding comes from. Don't agree with me? Try to walk into one of their buildings and refuse to leave when campus security shows up because it's public property.

I have a feeling the judge will nod sagely when he fines you for tresspassing.

<b><i>Did Congress (or even the Government of Missouri) make a rule saying they couldn't have banners there?

No.

Therefore, no first amendment infraction.</i></b>

The University is acting as a private agent in this situation, allowing someone to buy a ticket to enter one of the buildings that it owns. It retains the right to regulate who can and cannot enter the building and the type of behavior that goes on inside its buildings.

Therefore, it is acting as an owner and can regulate what goes on within said building in the same manner that Arrowhead Stadium could ask you to take down a banner someone found offensive or interferred with their enjoyment of the game.

Do I agree with how it was handled. OH, hell no.

But, to trot out the worn "First Amendment" chestnut, everytime someone does something like this, cheapens the whole thing when there are really situations that need to be dealt with.