FREE SPEECH FEST 2007
@ Lake Eola Park during
"Fireworks at the Fountain" (July Fourth)

July 3, 2007

For immediate release:

Contacts:

Ben Markeson
407.252.1379
bennyrizzo@orlandodirectaction.us

George Crossley
407.619.1520
gcrossley@orlandodirectaction.us

In keeping with the spirit of the Fourth of July, a holiday that is supposed to be a celebration of our freedom, local activists and citizens will join together during the City of Orlando's annual Fireworks at the Fountain event at Lake Eola Park to celebrate freedom by exercising it as part of Free Speech Fest 2007.

Those who wish to participate in Free Speech Fest 2007 should meet at the Lake Eola Park Picnic area at 6:30 p.m., on Wed., July Fourth. The picnic area is located at the corner of Osceola and Central in downtown Orlando. From there, local free speech activists will fan out among the event crowd, which it is estimated will number in the tens of thousands, and hand out any literature of their choosing, in keeping with the right to free speech guaranteed by the U.S. and Florida constitutions.

Anyone who wishes to distribute literature, whether as an individual or as part of a group, is welcome tobe part of Free Speech Fest 2007. In keeping with Thomas Jefferson's sage admonition that "Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it," we welcome and encourage the participation of people and organizations of any political, social, religious, or other belief. All they have to do to become an active part of Free Speech Fest 2007 is come to the park and give out literature. This event is not only an opportunity to peacefully exercise First Amendment rights, but to test the commitment of Orlando's public officials and police department to free speech and to upholding the U.S. Constitution, which they all have sworn an oath to do.

We believe that of all the freedoms granted to us by the U.S. Constitution, the most important and the most fundamental to defending and maintaining our other Constitutional rights and our liberty is that of free speech. As George Washington so wisely pointed out, "If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."

We consider freedom of speech to be our ability as free people to express our minds and consciences freely, without government impediments, to our fellow citizens, whether through written, printed, oral or electronic means. A public park, built and maintained with our public tax dollars, for the use of the public, seems to us to be a very appropriate forum for affirming and asserting our precious free speech rights. At the same time, we respect the freedom of our fellow citizens not to accept literature if they so choose; that is also part of freedom of speech and conscience.

The idea for Free Speech Fest 2007 grew out of a controversy that flared last month when the City of Orlando and media mega-conglomerate Cox Broadcasting threatened to have local activists for a presidential candidate arrested if they tried to hand out campaign literature during the "Fireworks at the Fountain" event. However, the City beat a hasty retreat from its threat after adverse publicity, after a threat by the local ACLU chapter to have a couple dozen groups show up to distribute their materials and after its lawyers sudden rediscovery of citizens' free speech rights. According to a June 22 Orlando Sentinel article, the City has decided that "political activists will be allowed to hand out literature [at Fireworks at the Fountain], as long as they don't impede people or threaten public safety." We hope that Free Speech Fest will become an annual event.

To contact Orlando Direct Action: e-mail: orlando_direct_action@yahoo.com
snail mail: P.O. Box 540957
Orlando, FL 32854-0957
phone: 407.252.1379