Sign the Petition to Free Banana Man!
UPDATE: After you’re done signing the petition, check out the Free Banana Man Song (at the bottom of this post)!
The Free-Lance Star finally got around to covering this great injustice, which I wrote about here. It’s about time.
Sign our petition to “Free Banana Man”: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/free-banana-man/.
Being handcuffed and thrown in the back of a squad car, getting suspended for 10-days and facing possible expulsion is beyond reason. The prank doesn’t fit the punishment.
Brian should be allowed to return to school immediately and his record expunged.
The Stafford County’s Sheriff’s Office should immediately provide expanded training on how to deal with individuals suffering from autism and mental illness. Sheriff Jett also needs to focus on catching the real criminals in our county. We’ve experienced a 66% rise in violent crime since 2005, according to the Virginia State Police. This is unacceptable.
Let’s send Sheriff Jett a message by liking Chuck Feldbush (I-Stafford) for Sheriff on Facebook. The citizenry in Stafford County deserve accountability and results.
I also highly recommend liking Tim Barbrow (I-Stafford) for Commonwealth’s Attorney. If Eric Olsen brings charges against this kid, it will be just another example of overreach by the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office in Stafford. We need a whole new direction in Stafford!
You can also like us on Facebook here.
I don’t mind signing a petition for Bryan because I believe that the school administration went WAY too far on this one. What I don’t understand is how voting for (I) Party who are running for office has anything to do with this boy who was unjustly suspended. Also, why is it that when folks who run for the (I) party here in Virginia are always backed by the Democratic Party of Virginia, Fredericksburg Dem Committee, Stafford Dem Committee and so on? As a parent of 3 students at Colonial Forge I do say “Free the Banana Man” but vote for the BEST not neccessarily (I). Thanks
mothershoe – I certainly respect your opinion; however, I’m not 100% on board with your conclusion.
I think the school administration went way too far, but I also think that Sheriff Jett’s office went way too far too. Was it really necessary to handcuff the kid and throw him in the back of a squad car? Was he really such a threat? If you look at my prior post on the subject, you can clearly see the answer is no. This incident is just another example of Sheriff’s office not knowing how to deal with children with autism or folks in general – need we forget about the Reginald Latson case. There are many other similar examples. This incident also further highlights what is wrong with our community. We’re too busy coming down hard on bananas, but not focusing on the real criminals in our community. Since 2005, Stafford County has seen a dramatic increase in crime (60%) and an unbelievable 66% increase in violent crimes.
If Brian has an IEP, the school can’t technically expel him because of IDEA – unless he is proven to be a danger to himself or others (ostensibly via conviction of a crime). Given the outrageous things that Eric Olsen has prosecuted in the past, I wouldn’t put anything past him. In fact, some have emailed me that they were really concerned that the kid would be charged. That is the only way they could expel him.
So you see this incident has everything to do with these two offices.
As far as your assertion that Independents are backed by only Democrats locally, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m not aware of any formal endorsements for the two candidates in my post by the Democratic Party locally. These offices should be above party politics. These two candidates have received wide bi-partisan support, as far as I can tell from talking to folks.
The GOP also has endorsed two Independents for Supervisor in Spotsylvania this year, so clearly Democrats don’t always support Independents locally. The GOP supports them too.
mothershoe:
This is a Republican area; Democratic candidates are lacking here. I think if you went to a Democratic area — where Republican candidates are hard to come by — you would find a lot of Republican groups, blogs and actvists getting behind independent candidates.