By Steve Klamkin WPRO News
Manuel Pombo has been playing his saxophone on the streets of Providence for 30 years, but says he’s been arrested and harassed by police more and more over the past two years.
“Recently, at the Dunkin Donuts Center, a policeman was coming up, and he said, “get out of here with that”. I said, “well, excuse me officer, I have permission from the Dunk and I have a permit”. “I don’t care, get out of here”, he quoted the officer as telling him.
On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union Rhode Island affiliate sued the city on Pombo’s behalf in federal court.
Pombo said he received a letter some years ago from the city’s Board of Licenses, that gives police the discretion to bar him from performing on the street.
“The City of Providence seems to act as if we’re inside this bubble where the First Amendment doesn’t exist,” said Shannah Kurland, a volunteer attorney for the ACLU who filed the complaint in U.S. District Court on Pombo’s behalf.
“He’s engaged in speech, so there’s nothing in the city’s code of ordinances that gives them the authority to do this,” she said.
ACLU of Rhode Island Executive Director Steven Brown said it’s the third time in recent years that the civil rights organization has sued Providence over First Amendment issues.
“I think it’s notable that a big municipality like Providence would have so little regard for what are really basic exercises of First Amendment rights,” Brown said.
“People leafleting, people performing, people protesting. These are not complicated, complex First Amendment issues, they’re very fundamental. And, its somewhat surprising and disappointing that a major municipality would show so little regard for allowing people to exercise their free speech rights in this way,” Brown said.
“It is stressful to think you might be arrested for being arrested, but for playing music,” Pombo said. “It’s wearing, and all I’m doing is playing music.”
Pombo has good company in the music world among street musicians, or so-called “buskers”.
“Sting, Springsteen, U2, a lot of people who are famous have practiced busking in recent years, but you don’t have to be famous to invoke the First Amendment,” said John Dineen, another volunteer attorney for the ACLU.
A call to the mayor’s office was not immediately returned.
