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The Daily Wildcat

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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

POBEAT: 4/20/2016

Looks like a Frisbee to me

At 10 a.m., two officers responded to a call from the UA Bookstore because two teenagers, 15 and 16 years old, from Tucson High School were tossing a football around the store. The tag had fallen off the football and they continued to toss it. They went to the register and paid for a Frisbee, but walked out with the football without paying for it.

The teenagers said they didn’t have to be at school until 11 a.m., so they came to the UA to walk around. One teenager said he meant to pay for the football, but simply forgot.

The incident was used as a learning experience for the teenagers and they were sent to school.

Don’t feed the preacher

A pro-life preacher was speaking to a student on the UA Mall side of the Student Union Memorial Center breezeway on April 11 when he heard one of his a-frame signs fall over in the middle of the sidewalk. He asked his friend what happened, and he was told a female student walking away had knocked it over.

“Young lady, you cannot damage my property!” the preacher yelled, before calling 911. There was no damage to his sign. He continued to follow her when he met the University of Arizona Police Department officer.

The officer was dispatched to the student union on reference to vandalism. While on route, the involved subjects were walking west on Fourth Street.

Officers spoke to the UA student who had knocked the sign over and she said she didn’t want to pursue charges regarding the preacher grabbing her arm. She was more concerned with the fact the preacher had recorded her with his GoPro video camera. The officer explained to her that she was in a public place and could be recorded and that even though she did not agree with what the preacher was saying, he was allowed to say it.

When the UAPD officer asked the preacher if he grabbed her arm, he said, “She’s lying, I would never touch a student.”

The officer explained to the preacher that regardless of what happens to his signs, he does not have the right to touch a student. The preacher said he understood.

Kathy Adams-Riester, the dean of students, was informed of the incident. She told the preacher that the signs were outside of policy and if he wished to use them on campus, he could request Mall space on the grass to display them. The preacher said he had been doing this for 30 years and it’s never been an issue. Adams-Riecher explained the policy again and told him there would be an exception for the remainder of the day, but the next time he returned to campus, he would have to be in compliance with the policy and display his signs on the grass.

The preacher replied, “I’m gonna continue to do what I’ve always done.”

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