A declared love of cocaine. A woman claiming to be God. Chief Keef impersonators. These are what we think of when we think of Florida. What we don't think of is people being arrested for handing out flyers at a red light, which doesn't sound that bad.
Mark Schmidter has had enough of the red light cameras in his town, so he stood on a street corner and handed out flyers to stopped motorists to let them know about a town hall meeting to voice concerns about the red light cameras. His belief is that the cameras aren't about safety at all, but are actually about revenue for the towns.
Sounds harmless. He wasn't even waving his genitals to get their attention!
A police officer approached and asked for a permit for the protest, which Schmidter didn't have. The officer also asked for ID, which Schmidter refused because he said he wasn't driving and there was no need for it. The officer arrested Schmidter and booked him on charges of obstructing an officer without violence and a pedestrian violation.
He received a $65 fine and was held for 12 hours before posting a $500 bond. He needs 500 signatures to get a public referendum on the cameras in Appoka, his town.
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