Our local weekly paper has an interesting story which is guaranteed to make you sputter and spit. I share it with you for a little Saturday amusement.
Note: There is no web site for this publication. The circulation is around 2,000 copies per week. The name of the paper is the Charlotte Gazette.
Martin Mawyer was charged with littering in early March of 2007 after thousands of flyers were dumped from an aircraft over the Muslims of America village in Red House, Virginia on November 18, 2006.
Now why, you might ask, would someone feel compelled to drop thousands of pieces of paper on the homes and yards of his neighbors?
Maywer, President of the Christian Action Network, has been trying to convince the county government to change the name on a road sign which leads into the Muslim community. The street, named in the recent 911 county upgrade, was given the name "Sheikh Gilani".
Many of the streets were given new names that reflected the preferences of the residents, and if one family lived along that street it is often reflected in the new name. We have a Dupree Circle, for Mr. Dupree the Funeral Director, and Burns Place, named for the Reverend Burns. The Muslim Community chose their name, as did everyone else in the county.
The problem for our Christian Action Network lunitic is that he is convinced that Sheikh Gilani is the name of a terrorist. "It's a Muslim name!" he is reported to have said to the local barber.
The Commonwealth Attorney has brought charges against Mawyer for littering.
In a hearing to dismiss on Thursday, Mawyer's attorney argued that
"distribution of the flyers is protected as Free Speech and under Mr. Mawyer's First Ammendment rights."
The Commonwealth Attorney responded by noting that:
"There are many avenues for someone to promote their ideas with out using an airplane to dump 1.000's of scraps of paper on their neighbors homes."
The judge told both attorneys that "I don't want to take this case lightly. I want to carefully review your briefs."
A decision is expected within two weeks.