2 Protesters Arrested After Going Topless
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2 Protesters Arrested After Going Topless
The Breasts Not Bombs members had been warned to keep their shirts on
at the Capitol demonstration against governor's initiatives.
By Evan Halper
Times Staff Writer
November 8, 2005
SACRAMENTO - Police arrested two members of an organization called
Breasts Not Bombs after they removed their tops during a protest on the
steps of the state Capitol on Monday afternoon.
The women, who were protesting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ballot
measures for today's special election, took off their shirts despite
warnings from the California Highway Patrol last week that doing so
would lead to their arrests - and possibly their inclusion on the
state's list of sex offenders. A federal judge Friday refused to grant
a request from Breasts Not Bombs to block the police from arresting
topless protesters.
Officials at the Sacramento County district attorney's office said they
have not decided whether to prosecute the protesters, and if they do,
whether to seek to have them listed as sex offenders.
"We have done these demonstrations from San Francisco to Mendocino to
the gates of the White House and never been restrained in this way,"
said Breasts Not Bombs member Sherry Glaser of Albion, Calif., near
Mendocino, addressing about 100 onlookers.
Soon after, Glaser, 45, removed her top and was promptly arrested.
Renee Love, 40, also of Albion, was arrested after she removed her top.
Both were charged with indecent exposure, disorderly conduct and going
beyond the scope of their permit to demonstrate on state property.
"The permit specifically said that nudity would not be allowed," said
Tom Marshall, a CHP spokesman. "We're clearly following the law as it
was written. They took us to court Friday seeking a restraining order
to stop us from arresting them and the judge came down on our side."
Angered that Glaser and Love could be listed on the sex offender
registry if convicted of lewd acts, state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los
Angeles) joined the protesters before their arrests to announce that
she would introduce legislation to decriminalize the baring of breasts
in public. "While it is legal for men to go shirtless in public in
California," she said, "women risk being classified as sex offenders
for baring the same body parts."