So the Zombie Walk got permission. And at about 7 PM people gathered at the Plaza Herrera for the annual event. But of course the third world pompous pricks that pass for “authorities” in our country had to cause trouble.
That is, notably the corregidor, one Jairo Morán, couldn’t accept his defeat in trying to outlaw the zombie walk.
First, we understood through Twitter that on the streets leading to Plaza Herrera, the police was stopping people who were dressed up as zombies and wouldn’t let them into Casco Viejo.
At about 20:00, it was announced by Jairo Moron that the permit was canceled on orders of Bosco the Clown, our corrupt and empty-headed mayor. It remains to be seen if this statement was actually true.
Then, this piece of shit corregidor – according to an eyewitness – summoned everybody to walk on the sidewalks and not on the street – mind you, we’re talking here about a simple event, not even a protest, and during the afternoon the SPI was blocking the streets around Plaza Bolivar with its music band – and Mir Rodriguez, who is an environmental activist, works for Greenpeace and runs a very nice website called Almanaque Azul, about Panama’s beaches and coast, tried to argue with that idiot Morán that there was no law whatsoever that forbids him to stand on the street.
After all, they are our streets.
Mir Rodriguez was then arrested and taken away. He is at the time of writing being held in the Juzgado Nocturno of San Felipe, on charges of “disrespect” for authority or something along those lines.
For some unfathomable reason, with the exception of some of Rodriguez’s friends, the rest of the zombies did nothing, they continued their walk, now carefully staying on the sidewalks and under constant surveillance of a group of gorillas policemen as if this was really some group of dangerous terrorists trying to blow up the Canal. The corregidor, said our eyewitness, then waved some law book claiming that waring theater make-up is also illegal and could and should result in arrest.
So, end result, more damage done. Abusive authorities, and citizens who, with very few exceptions, let themselves be bullied around or look the other way. After all, they could all have stepped on the street – No Zombie Left Behind – and then what would Morán have done, arrest a legion of zombies?
Ironically, Mir Rodriguez went to the event to support the right of anyone to organize these type of things. We are told that he was worried about organizer Rob Rivera, and called on others to stay close to him because an arrest warrant had already be issued against Rivera. When then not Rob Rivera but Mir Rodriguez was arrested, the walk continued as if nothing had happened and Rivera, on Twitter, called it a “success”.
Are activists and organizers never going to learn in this country?
Your reporter was in Casco Viejo in the afternoon. A 14 year old boy had been shot, dead, supposedly by someone from a rivaling street gang. The body was on a sidewalk for hours. Don’t these corregidores, police chiefs and all the other members of the circus have REAL work to do, one wonders, instead of harassing people dressing up as zombies on Halloween?
INSTANT UPDATE: This comment just came to our attention: “Mir is ok. a group went down to pn [policia nacional] to see if he needed help. at that point he was free to go but wanted to stay and speak to the corrigedor.”
However, we understand that they fined him with $360 and he has until 6AM to pay, or will be taken prisoner again. This is nothing but vulgar shakedown by no less vulgar authorities. Also, nobody from Portodiao showed up in his support.
UPDATE 2: We just (1:30 AM) talked to Mir Rodriguez. He’s out after a friend paid the $368 fine. Now all we need to do is find a way to make these idiots pay the price….
— Developing story —
Leave a Reply