[Jeff Higgins]

Copper, you certainly offer an interesting perspective on this. A Canadian perspective, however, judging from your location. Most of what you say, while it may very well apply in Canada, has no application here in the States. Police officers here simply CANNOT restrict any one individual citizen's right to access a public place. Certainly not on their spoken word offered at the moment.

There are mechanisms in place, operating through the courts, that this access can be restricted. That would usually be in the form of some kind of a restraining order obtained by the citizens, not the cops. In that case, the cops enforce the order. They simply do not make up their own on the fly in this country. Maybe in Canada, but not here.

Challenging them with knowledge of our rights as citizens of the United States usually results in THEM losing, not us. We have many rights that we have not yet given up in this country. There are those of us still willing to possibly suffer a bit of personal inconvenience to ensure we do not. I have personally dug my heels in on several occasions such as this. I have even wound up in handcuffs in the back seat of a cop car. Never in jail, however. The bullies have aleways backed down at whatever point would generate an "offical" record of their actions.