Reverend Billy Throws His Hat Into The Mayoral Ring

Several challengers to Mayor Bloomberg have already stepped up to defeat the two term King of New York. There's the Congressional member Anthony Weiner, City Comptroller Bill Thompson and progressively-minded Councilman Tony Avella. Though none of those three compare in terms of personality than the newest candidate on the block, Reverend Billy.

From The NY Times:

Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping is — to say the least — not your typical candidate for mayor. With his blond pompadour, cobalt blue suit, black shirt and white collar, he made his announcement in Union Square on Sunday accompanied by a choir in green robes.

But he has the nomination of an actual political party and might have a spot on the ballot in November, something Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has yet to secure.

“Even if you have 20 billion dollars, you’re not going to buy this election!” he shouted through a white bullhorn to a small gathering of supporters and reporters. “This campaign will be the revolt of the fabulous 500 neighborhoods, amen!”

Amen indeed!

Having Reverend Billy in the mix should definitely liven things up a bit. I don't believe that he'd be the only one to speak his mind (Tony Avella certainly has no problem with that) but his persona is most definitely unique. Not only that, the issues he speaks to carry great resonance with many New Yorkers. If he can connect them to what Bloomberg has done to the city in terms of development then who knows what will happen.

I'm sure that Bloomberg and the more "serious" contenders will protest the Reverend's candidacy and proclaim him as a side show. However, Billy does have that one thing that the Mayor still covets....a ballot line.

The Prosecution Flees On Rev. Billy

This story isn't too surprising, but good news is always appreciated when it comes to the first amendment. Reverend Billy (a.k.a. Bill Talen) has been so outspoken in New York that the police here do not like to see such expressions of freedom. They provoked and arrested him for nothing, drawing up false charges and making criminals out of themselves (a crooked cop in New York? Never!). Instead of dropping it there, the city had the D.A. try to prosecute the Reverend, but apparently they could never get their act together.

From The Gothamist:

Hallelujah! Yesterday the judge presiding over the Reverend Billy case dropped the charges that claimed he harassed public officials. The Rev was arrested in June while reciting the First Amendment in Union Square during a Critical Mass ride which coincided with the protest of the proposed MOFTB rules.

Turns out the prosecutors didn't meet their deadline to file papers explaining the arrest and its justification. The Reverend's (whose real name is Bill Talen) lawyer, Earl Ward, said they likely let the deadline pass in order to end the case. The video from that day does a good job of showing that he was just reciting, you know, the amendment stating our rights to free speech and free assembly -- albeit in the vicinity of power-tripping police officers.

The NY Times reports that Civil Rights lawyer Norman Siegel "said the dismissal was not the end of the road for Reverend Billy. He said he would file a federal lawsuit against the city and the Police Department charging false arrest, malicious prosecution and violation of Mr. Talen’s free-speech rights." Did the NYPD really think they could send Reverend Billy to the Tombs and expect him to just roll over?

Time to teach the NYPD a lesson. If anyone can back up Reverend Billy, its Norman Siegel.

NYC Prosecutor Shows The Holes In Case Against Rev. Billy

The case against Reverend Billy has to be one of the dumbest on the dockets of NYC courtrooms. The story starts with the Reverend reciting the First Amendment at a rally for the.....First Amendent, also known as the Critical Mass Bikeride. This apparently angered the NYPD on the scene so they charged him with two phony counts of harassment against the arresting officers. The video of the incident clearly shows he wasn't.

Not only did the NYPD arrest him, the city is trying to convict him of the charges. Prosecutor Mary Weisgerber couldn't even get a good case together for the hearing, so she requested a delay until October 15th. Here's what went down in court on Tuesday.

From The New York Times:

In court yesterday, the prosecutor told Judge Tanya Kennedy that Mr. Talen’s offense had been to shout the familiar lines beginning with “Congress shall make no law” while standing just three feet from the officers, and to ignore their requests to stop. The prosecutor, Mary Weisgerber, said his behavior was “obnoxious” by any standard.

“That’s not true,” Mr. Talen piped up.

Outside of court, Mr. Talen — who says that his lungs are like bullhorns because he has had operatic training — maintained that he was about 15 feet from the officers and that his account was supported by a videotape of the episode that has been preserved on YouTube.

Thankfully when court comes back into session there will be nothing that the city's Attorney will have to offer. The judge has already agreed with Public Advocate Norman Siegel that the case will be dismissed pending the next trial date.

Arrested For Citing The First Amendment In NYC

Apparently talking about the Bill of Rights is now a crime in New York City. "Harassing a Public Official" is something you can be arrested for. Reverend Billy was charged with that and led away in handcuffs for using a bullhorn (not battery powered, as you can see in the photos) as he cited our so-called rights as stated in the Constitution. Shame on the NYPD and specifically Lieutenant Daniel Albano.

From ONNYTurf:

At Critical Mass on Friday the Reverend Billy was arrested for "Harassment of a Public Official". The Reverend was preaching about the First Amendment on the east side of the park near the north end, where the NYPD also parks a lineup of scooters before each Critical Mass.

Reverend Billy and his partner Savitri D were reciting the First Amendment to the United States Constitution to the gathered police force when Lieutenant Daniel Albano, head of the NYPD's Legal Division, ordered the Reverend's arrest and detention at the 13th Precinct station. It is believed Albano is the public official Reverend Billy has been charged with harassing. The arrest is representative of the Bloomberg/Kelly approach to law enforcement, where specious and hollow charges serve a political agenda at maximum inconvenience to the individual charged.

The Critical Mass ride did not start out from Union Square. Some people were ticketed as they entered the park on bikes... very weird. And riders dispersed from Union Square around 8:30 and regrouped elsewhere and then had a un-harassed ride starting around 9pm. The NYPD did not follow cyclists to the regroup site for some reason - perhaps the NYPD is less interested when the ride starts later. It is hard to say how the NYPD mind works.

How sad is it when the fragile egos of NYPD officers can help to damage our constitutional rights. Will we see Lieutenant Albano disciplined for this outrageous behavior? I'm not holding my breath.