July 08, 2004

FEMA worker ordered home
Woman, husband wore T-shirts with anti-Bush logo at July Fourth rally

By Paul J. Nyden

A worker with the Federal Emergency Management Agency who wore an anti-Bush T-shirt at the president's July Fourth rally in Charleston has been sent home to Texas.

Nicole Rank, who was working for FEMA in West Virginia, and her husband, Jeff, were removed from the Capitol grounds in handcuffs shortly before Bush's speech. The pair wore T-shirts with the message "Love America, Hate Bush."

The Ranks were ticketed for trespassing and released. They have been given summonses to appear in court, Charleston Police Lt. C.A. Vincent said Wednesday.
FEMA spokesman Ross Fredenburg would not say Wednesday whether Nicole Rank had been fired.
"All we can say is that our federal coordinating officer, Lou Botta, sent Nicole home," he said. "We cannot comment further, to protect her privacy. Federal privacy laws prevent us from saying anything."
Rank was doing environmental work for FEMA, Fredenburg said. "Nicole was deployed here after the Memorial Day flooding. I knew her personally ... We are reservists and work for intermittent periods of time."

Fredenburg said Jeff Rank did not work for FEMA. He would not say where in Texas the Ranks live.
On Sunday, Charleston Police Sgt. R.E. Parsons said Nicole and Jeff Rank were in a no-trespassing area and refused to leave.

The White House coordinated the president's visit to the state Capitol. Organizers described it as a presidential visit, not a political rally. State and federal funds were used to pay for the presidential visit.
Dozens of people who attended Sunday's event wore pro-Bush T-shirts and Bush-Cheney campaign buttons, some of which were sold on the Capitol grounds outside the security screening stations.
U.S. Secret Service officers coordinated security workers, including West Virginia State Police, state park officers and Capitol security officers.

Those who attended Bush's speech were required to have tickets that were distributed by various employers in the area and by the office of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

Those who applied for tickets were required to supply their names, addresses, birth dates, birthplaces and Social Security numbers.

A two-page document given to ticket holders said they were prohibited from bringing certain items to the event, including: weapons, video-recording equipment, food, beverages, umbrellas, signs and banners. T-shirts, political buttons and lapel pins were not on the list of prohibited items.
Robert Bastress, a West Virginia University law professor who specializes in civil liberties, questions whether people like the Ranks can be legally prohibited from wearing anti-Bush shirts or buttons.
"Obviously, you have a right to engage in nondisruptive protest," he said. "If you were legally there, you cannot be asked to leave because of whatever message is on a button or a T-shirt or a hat."
He said key questions are "whether the [Bush speech] was a public forum, whether you were lawfully there and what was the manner in which you were engaging in your expression."
Event organizers could prohibit signs, designating a place where people could carry signs. "But they can't make those decisions based on what the content of any sign says."

Bastress also said it makes no difference whether Sunday's event was an official presidential visit or a political rally.

"That area was open to anybody who had a ticket," he said. "Once you were lawfully in there, you were entitled to even-handed treatment."

To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164.

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