Group Protests N.Y. Peace T - Shirt Arrest

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Mall-Activists.html

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Group Protests N.Y. Peace T - Shirt Arrest
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 5:46 p.m. ET
GUILDERLAND, N.Y. (AP) -- About 100 anti-war demonstrators
marched through a mall Wednesday to protest the arrest of a shopper
who wore a T-shirt that read ``Peace on Earth'' and ``Give Peace a Chance.''

``We just want to know what the policy is and why it's being
randomly enforced,'' said Erin O'Brien, an organizer of the noontime rally
at the Crossgates Mall.

Protest leaders were scheduled to meet with the mall's
manager after the rally. Calls to mall officials were not immediately
returned.

On Monday, Stephen Downs, 61, and his son were asked by mall
security guards to remove their peace-slogan shirts or leave.
Downs' 31-year-old son, Roger, took off his shirt. But Downs refused.

The guards called police, and he was charged with trespassing and pleaded
innocent.

Police Chief James Murley said: ``We don't care what they have
on their shirts, but they were asked to leave the property, and it's private
property.''

The men had had the T-shirts made at a mall store and wore
them while they shopped.