JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — One day after protesters demonstrated in City Hall for a second time, the City of Jacksonville posted a new sign in the building warning of unauthorized activity.
On Tuesday, two dueling protests took place at City Hall over the Confederate monument at Springfield Park. One protest, led by the Northside Coalition, demanded for the statue to be taken down while the other group demanded the statue stay in its current place.
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By Wednesday, City Hall had a new sign posted warning anyone who may go to the upper floors, where the mayor's office is located, that they could be removed from the building or arrested.
The sign reads:
"ATTENTION
"Limit active to the atrium.
"City offices on the first floor situated off the central atrium and all floors above the first floor of City Hall are not public forums for engaging in activity that disrupts ongoing work of City Hall employees.
"Upper Floors are accessible by appointment of invitation only.
"Members of the public are only permitted entry to floors above the first floor of City Hall by appointment, consent, or invitation of a City Hall official or department. Contact information for City Hall offices can be obtained from 630-CITY or the City's website.
"Please be respectful of employees.
"Members of the public are prohibited from engaging in activity that unreasonably disrupts the ongoing work of City Hall employees. This includes, but is not limited to, excessive noise or other conduct that impedes City Hall employees or invited members of the public from conducting business. This also includes continuing to photograph or audio or video record of any City employee without his or her consent if the office or department of such an employee is located in a non-public City Hall area.
"Violators are subject to warning for trespass and ejection from the building. Those refusing to vacate the building upon warning are subject to arrest. City Hall security officers and officers of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office are authorized to issue trespass warnings."
Ben Frazier, of the Northside Coalition, released a statement calling the signs 'illegal' and said the group may take legal action against the city.
"The new signs and the policy that they advance are far too broad and vague and they have a chilling effect because they threaten people with arrests," Frazier said. "They are a clear violation of our first amendment rights to protest and to assemble peacefully as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution."
Frazier said the Northside Coalition "followed all traditional business etiquette and conventional protocol in requesting a meeting with the Mayor. To date; emails to the Mayor and calls to several of his assistants have been ignored."