Radio and Internet personality Alex Jones (infowars, prison planet, 911 truth) is up in arms about South by Southwest (SXSW). Alex is based in Austin Texas, probably the most “liberal” city in Texas due to being a University town and being the state capital.
It’s fertile ground for Alex Jones to flush out the totalitarian instincts of “progressives”.
SXSw is a growing and influential gathering of the progressive technorati to listen to concerts, see films, and network products and ideas about how to make the world “smarter”
Someone at SXSW security apparently didn’t like that Alex Jones hired people to hand out copies of his magazine to passers by on a public street. The festival is spread over a wide area, not just a trade show inside a private convention center.
After initially issuing warning tickets and telling Infowars to stop, the Austin police realized that SXSW has no right to order them to prevent handing out literature on a public street. Odd how the Hollywood people prosper in a country that protects free speech can miss the point that the 1st amendment also protects people with crazy conspiracy theories. (See: Da Vinci Code)
http://alexjones.co/police-target-infowars-with-citations-at-sxsw-festival/
Disconcerting that the police didn’t immediately realize the problem with suppressing speech on a public street.