The Overpass Light Brigade pose with all the signs they brought to an overpass near Miller Park Saturday June 2, 2012. The various permutations were displayed to passing motorists. Photo by: Jenna Pope
Since Scott Walker and his allies picked a fight with the good citizens of Wisconsin, they have hit back with an immense avalanche of creative and innovative retorts and actions to register their displeasure with his policies. One such group is the Overpass Light Brigade whose activities have crescendoed in the last few weeks and may just be one of the differences in this election.
Enter Lane Hall, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and his wife Lisa Moline who are not necessarily activists but could not bear to sit on the sidelines for this fight. They started with simple letters using battery-powered LEDs that spelled out “Recall Walker” and made regular appearances on the Lincoln Drive overpass to the Milwaukee Art Museum along the lakefront.
The view as seen by motorists on East Washington Avenue in Madison, WI. Photo by: Jenna Pope
This spring their ranks have grown and now as many as 60 people gather for “bridge parties” hitting many key overpasses in Milwaukee, Portage, West Allis, Fort Atkinson, Janesville, and Madison. There is even a branch group in Pennsylvania.
These folks keep a good humor but they know their rights. Saturday night (June 2, 2012) they occupied an overpass near Miller Park in Milwaukee to catch traffic leaving the Brewer game. They were visited by no less than three different law enforcement agencies as the overpass straddled Federal and Milwaukee County land.
An interesting discussion ensued about which agency had jurisdiction over which part of the bridge. All the while the OLB, armed with a lawyer trained in free speech issues, stood their ground, patiently explaining to each law delegation that their supervisors had sent them on a fool’s errand.
You can read about Saturday’s OLB experience above I-94 and Miller Park from a post on the Daily Kos. And don’t forget to visit their Facebook Page.
See more of Jenna Pope’s OLB photos here.
Video of Saturday night’s display:
My prayers and hopes are with you, Overpass Light Brigade! As we used to say back in the ’60s, “Don’t Agonize; Organize!” You are a shining example of free speech!