Riding high: Anti-war protester sits on Big Y sign

[ Originally published on: Friday, December 07, 2007 ]

GREENFIELD -- A man dressed as Uncle Sam with donkey ears slowed traffic on the Mohawk Trail and caused a jam in the parking lot for more than an hour Thursday morning when he climbed atop a 'Support Our Troops' sign at the Big Y plaza to protest the war and the sign.

Before the incident ended, Joshua Jay Dostis, also known as Waffles T. Clown, of New Salem, and three supporters on the ground were arrested. About 20 gathered to watch and support Dostis in temperatures that never reached 20 degrees.

Dostis straddled the sign, which stands at least 20 feet high, for more than an hour, while those below encouraged him and yelled out words of support. He waved a small American flag and yelled out anti-war slogans and other comments through a megaphone.

He draped a canvas sign, which said, 'Stop the War, Support Our Vets, 6,256 vet suicides in 2005.' The sign he sat upon is the one the Zoning Board of Appeals recently deemed illegal and ordered to be taken down.

Barry Gidseg of Robar Inc., owner of the plaza and the sign, called police Thursday morning after a protester called him to say the man was sitting atop the sign.

'I told him he couldn't be up there and he ignored my wishes, so I called the police,' said Gidseg in a phone interview Thursday afternoon. 'It's a shame that people feel the right to free speech and protest when it infringes on others' rights.

'The protest caused a disruption on the property and interrupted businesses,' he said. 'I guess some people feel it's OK to break the law because their cause is just. I just thank God no one was injured.'

Tickets had been handed out for the Waffles T. Clown Show -- Admit One, Box Seat on the 50 Yard Line.

When police arrived shortly after 10 a.m., they ordered the crowd to step back about 50 yards to make room for the Greenfield Fire Department ladder truck. Police encouraged Dostis to come down willingly or be 'retrieved off your perch.'

When Dostis refused, a man in the crowd chanted, 'All the king's police and all the king's firefighters couldn't get Humpty Dumpty off the sign.'

Two officers went up in the bucket of the aerial truck with a firefighter and pulled Dostis into the bucket -- people clapped and cheered. When Dostis' feet hit the parking lot, he was handcuffed and arrested and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct -- people booed and hissed.

Three people who had been ordered off the property by police at the request of Big Y store manager Mike Piziak were arrested for refusing to leave.

Piziak had no comment.

Greenfield Police Sgt. Daniel McCarthy said all four who were arrested were taken to the police station on High Street and later appeared in court. He said he believes they were released and will all be in court again today to be arraigned.

John Thomas MacLean, 82, of Greenfield, and Gail Noble Carson of Northampton, 65, were both arrested and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Emily Peyton, 49, of Putney, Vt., was arrested and charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct and inception of wire and oral communications for illegally recording someone else's voice, said McCarthy.

She had been videotaping the incident from the parking lot and later, her car, and was ordered to stop taping and leave. When she didn't respond, police ordered her from the car and handcuffed and arrested her.

Police took an inventory of her car and had it towed. McCarthy said that is standard procedure and police will hold onto the video camera until the court orders them to give it back or the case ends.

Massachusetts State Police directed traffic on Route 2, while more than a dozen Greenfield police officers and firefighters worked on the scene.

'This is great,' said Ricki Carroll of Ashfield. 'This guy (Dostis) is courageous.'

MacLean, before he was arrested, applauded all who were there to support Dostis.

Rebecca Hull of Amherst said she heard Dostis' message loud and clear.

'This is one of the best class acts I've seen in a long time,' she said.

While protesters complained their constitutional rights of free speech and assembly were being denied, police tried to remind them they were on private property. A police photographer took photographs of all of the protesters, many of whom gave the peace sign while being photographed.

Jamie Eckley of Westminster, Vt., came to Greenfield to show his support.

'I'm 100 percent in support of this crazy action,' he said. 'I wish more people were as bold and brave.'

McCarthy said it was unfortunate that police and firefighters had to take so much manpower from the community to deal with the incident.

'It's a fine line between individual rights to peaceably assemble and the right of government to ensure the safety of all,' said McCarthy. 'Something like this takes away resources from the community, but it has to be done.'

McCarthy said police checked with the mayor's office before going to the plaza to see if a permit had been granted for the demonstration. He said a permit had not been applied for or granted.

No one was hurt in the incident, but a Baystate Health Ambulance waited on Route 2 for the hour.

 

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