As a result of my removal from the park earlier today when it was open, I wound up at McDonald’s trying to kill time. It soon became apparent that I needed real sleep.

I left McDonald’s and explored the possibility of alternative places to try to sleep. Finally, I concluded there was no avoiding the reality that Crane’s Roost was my preferred destination. I’ve slept there and I feel safe and relatively comfortable in the environment. I chose the amphitheater area. It’s a bit well lit, but my assumption was that I would be discovered.

Here is the setup of the video. The audio is not in sync with the video.

Park CD setup

The audio ends at 1:24. I’m afraid my netbook is beginning to show the wear of the cumulative experiences.

In any case, I believe that under Jones v. City of Los Angeles, I would be entitled to sleep there. The fact that I had been removed earlier in the day only bolstered my belief that I simply had no choice but to sleep there at night when it was closed.

This time, everyone I dealt with was very professional. The park worker called the police. Officer Raymond C. Cogburn, Jr. showed up. We had an extensive conversation in which he felt the park was closed and that I had to leave. I explained I had not been allowed to sleep their during the day and that I needed the sleep at night. I asserted that I had a basic human right to sleep there and a civil right under Jones v. City of Los Angeles. I explained that I felt any citation or arrest would be costly and counterproductive to the parties involved. After listening to me, Officer Raymond C. Cogburn explained my only options were to be arrested or leave.

I ultimately chose to leave and return to McDonalds. I asked the officer for his card and he gave it to me. At McDonalds I uploaded the video to youtube. Ironically, it appears I would not have been able to do that at the Casselberry Central library.

I remain confident that at a minimum, the law suggests a civil right to sleep in public exists under Jones v. City of Los Angeles.

Tore loves Eliza!

—

So I thought everything was moving along reasonably when I returned to the park this morning.

I encountered one of the individuals who had asked me to leave while the park was open. His name is John. He had one other assistant, Sallie, and two other officers in tow.

He was under the impression that I had been issued paperwork. I told him he was wrong. Then he indicated that I would be arrested for writing about him in my blog. Finally, when I suggested his actions are unconstitituonal his reply was, “This is Florida.” In any event, John again ordered me to leave the park or be arrested. Obviously, I was not going to be arrested for anything, but I felt it would be best to begin updating the situation and returned to the McDonalds. In addition to that, John indicated I would be arrested if I showed up again. Apparently, John thinks the park is his private kingdom and he can exclude anyone for any reason and apparently has the audacity to believe the police will simply do his bidding.

Parks are extremely important components of a community and are in fact part of the traditional public forums. They facilitate communications as well as access to water, toilets, as well as relaxing activities. To suggest you would have someone arrested for a blog post in a park is a clear abuse of power. Moreover, John’s “show up” or leave policy is clearly retaliatory.

I have contacted Officer Cogburn to update him on John’s policies and practices as well as asking for a review of police policy.

Now I am hoping to spread the word on the internet.

Contact information for the park can be found here.

What I really want is for Eliza Dushku to marry me. Somehow, I end up getting sucked into some kind of fight against injustice by a turn of circumstance.