Here is a followup from last nights story: Occupy Congress:Bump in the Road Occupiers Kicked off Greyhound in Texas
As with most breaking news the story is disjointed and contradictory as information comes in. Now after the Occupiers are on the bus again and now on their way to Memphis on their way to D.C. there is time for them to get the story down.
Donald Ainsworth immediately began yelling at all passengers in the lobby. Once he realized 13 passengers were with Occupy he began making personal and rude comments towards members when boarding with tickets. No one responded. Once the bus was boarded he began shouting "Sit down and shut up! Anyone standing is getting kicked off the bus." Several passengers, not just Occupants, began addressing the driver's conduct. He left the bus, and locked all passengers within for over an hour. He made a lengthy phone call and before too long the police had arrived. The officer came on the bus and spoke with us, stating he knew Don's attitude was poor but he had the right to remove us. After everyone agreed to be quiet, the officer re-approached Don and had a calm argument with him. Following that, Don and the officer entered the bus and the officer announced he wanted 13 people off the bus. When asked who those people are, the officer began to chuckle and stated "The Occupy Wall Street people." He and Don began to walk down the aisle and Don asked every passenger "are you with Occupy?" To the 13 of us who responded yes, the police ordered them to exit the bus. Then Don said "Anyone else support Occupy? You can get off too!" Now we're in Amarillo at the Greyhound station. Please call Greyhound and demand we be given a charter DIRECTLY to DC. Also, a few random acts of pizza would be nice:)
Obviously this driver had no intent on letting these Occupiers go to Congress and stated as such when he said that Congress did not want them there. So using what little power he had he not only locked them on the bus for an hour or so and then had them removed from the bus thus delaying their trip for over 11 hours.
The problem that the driver did not realize is that the bus is a common carrier and subject to laws against discriminating based on among other things political beliefs. We can thank the sacrifices of the Freedom Riders for the recognition that being able to travel freely is an essential right.
Here is the current livestream as they proceed to D.C.
Live broadcasting by Ustream
We Will Not Be Silenced
10:38 AM PT: Greyhound speaks via Twitter:
GreyhoundBus Greyhound Bus
Hi All, we are aware of the Occupy Congress situation. We have notified executive management. We appreciate your patience.