ribnick furs

Two Fur Protesters Found Guilty of "disorderly conduct" for protesting outside fur shop in busy downtown area - Sentencing and Solidarity Rally this Wednesday, July 14th.

In a case involving the First Amendment and free speech, anti-fur trade protesters Isaac Peter and Michael Lawson were found guilty last week by a Hennepin County jury. The charges were "disorderly conduct," a misdemeanor under MN law. The incident occurred on March 4 2010 when officers arrested Isaac and Michael after alleging that they were creating an annoyance by shouting a political message on a public sidewalk in a busy and regularly noisy area of the city.

Ribnick Furs at 224 North 1st Street - and this area of the city - is no stranger to protesting. In fact, one of the potential jurors in Voir Dire, though not selected, stated that she worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, a few blocks away. She noted that they often received e-mail warnings of upcoming protests from both "animal rights" activists outside Ribnick Furs and "End the Fed" activists outside of their own building so that employees of the bank can find alternate routes to avoid the protesters. Thus, many of the local institutions and businesses are given advanced notice of the frequent, and sometimes loud protesting that occurs in this area.