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Street Report – Jackson Hole, WY [Wednesday 5/16/2012]

We began the day with witness on the road in front of the high school. Although there were a few people who took literature and a very few tentative waves the reception was pretty icy.  Many of the people driving by wore the “united” t-shirts with the slogan Civility, compassion, love or displayed the signs with the same slogan but they were far from civil.  A card they carried listed a number of “don’ts” including anger and even offered a help line if you could not control that anger.  It is interesting that those who do not know Jesus cannot control their anger nor forgive.

The next venue was the public sidewalk in front of the strip mall where Dr. Blue kills babies in the only killing center in Wyoming.  We brought signs, praise, preaching and the  Word of God right to the gates of hell to petition the Lord to have mercy on both Wyoming and our nation and stop the shedding of innocent blood in the streets of America.  Our nation is in grave danger.  Blood flows in our streets, our economy is bleeding to death and our children are being murdered in abortion clinics in every state of the union because we have forgotten His law.

  “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge,  I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law  of your God, I also will ignore your children.”  Hosea 4:6

We began Word in Warfare and started to read the entire Bible through at the very gates of hell for six hours. Our group ended the day’s reading in Joshua 20, the Cities of refuge!  Perhaps the Lord will have mercy on us and Wyoming will become the first State of Refuge – the first abortion free state. 

The “united” planned to divert traffic from us with detour sign to avoid the protestors but most just passed through because of curiosity.  

There were many opportunities to witness and the police were remarkably professional.  Jeremy & Felice who were so faithful to stand after we left Jackson Hole last year prepared the way for us.  Even though Felice lost her brother in a tragic fire the night before we arrived they were servants to all.  What a great example of the true Christianity!

There is a tremendous oppressive spirit over the city and it is so dark and heavy we could feel it.  It was so obvious that we war not with flesh and blood but with the powers and principalities who rule over this city.

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Jackson Hole Daily’s Ad for OSA

 We have now given the city of Jackson,Wyoming, the reason for our return to the gates of hell May 16-20, 2012. Here is the ad in the Jackson Hole Daily’s newspaper.  ~ Flip

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Jackson Hole Weekly – Boy Scouts Not Able to Attend Elkfest

 “It saddens our hearts that the Boy Scouts of America, of which I am one, cannot attend their annual “Elkfest” in Jackson Hole this year because parents are concerned about a sin in this city that the eyes of their Boy Scouts might see.  It is agonizingly hard to cover up the murder of little children when you have gentle Christians bringing this grotesque sin to light in the streets.

“If something is so ugly that we don’t want our children to see it, perhaps we ought to stop doing it!” Read it here via planetjh.com ~ Flip

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The Second Coming As Viewed by Jackson Hole!

Believe it or not, we are going back to Jackson, Wyoming.  They are calling our return, “The Second Coming!”  Brilliant, simply brilliant – such scorners and mockers.  Just like the picture below, it demonstrates the narcissistic behavior of those who are surrounded North, South, East, and West, by themselves.  The young man posing for this picture shows a blatant disregard for the children Brent Blue “chooses” to kill.  If his momma had “chosen” to kill him and used Brent Blue as the instrument to do the butchery, he wouldn’t be posing for any pictures.

The shallow and vacuous reasoning of man left on his own without God or any standard but “what’s right in his own eyes” is the door opener for social Darwinism.  This is Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  Survival of the fittest baby!  Yeaaahhh!  More from the fit and less from the unfit.  Leave the weakest and most helpless to die.  They’d only be a drain on “the herd” anyway.  The animalistic folks in Jackson learned all of this from their great friend and “god,” the Elk.  The Elk always force the weak or sickly outside the protection of the herd to die or be devoured by wolves.

Have you ever noticed that there is a difference between man and the animals.  Though it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish that difference in Jackson Hole, the difference, nevertheless, does exist.  A wolf doesn’t feel guilty when it kills.  The herd doesn’t feel guilty when it leaves the weak and helpless to fend for themselves.  The herd is never friendly to outsiders.  The strong live and the weak die.

Talking about the weak and the least Jesus said, “…whatsoever you have done to the least of these my brethren you have done it to me.  … whatsoever you have not done for the least of these my brethren you have not done it for me.” Matthew 25: 34-46.  Why are we concerned for the weak when animals are not?  Because we are created in God’s image.  We can’t escape it.

His law, no matter how eroded over time, is written on our hearts.  We know instinctively that we are our brother’s keeper.  We know that we are to care for the weak and helpless, even at the cost of our own lives.  We know the wrongness of the mantra, “My rights, my body, my choice, I do what I want whenever I want, and my one commandment is, ‘Don’t judge me!’” 

God’s law is built within us.  It makes us feel guilty because we are guilty.  Guilty of leaving the weak and helpless to die while we try to assuage our guilt with songs, margaritas, lines of cocaine, ski slopes, boyfriends, girlfriends, psychiatrists, money, fame, education, ad nauseam.  None of which can satisfy the deepest longings from within our very being.  Only Christ can do that.

So we are coming back to Jackson, Wyoming, with the very same message that we brought the first time.  It is a message of hope.  There is no pit so deep that Jesus is not deeper still!  Oh, and you thought it was all about Brent Blue, little knowing that our return is really all about you.    ~ Flip

Here is the story via planetjh.com…A very favorable article.  Make comments if you would like.

 

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Jackson Town Council Allows Abortion Display, But Not During Elk Antler Auction

As we have been planning our way (Proverbs 16:9) God has been directing our steps for our next adventure into the little town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  God has used Wyoming’s Supreme Court to help pave the way for the theology of heaven to become biography in the streets of Jackson once again this May 16-20, 2012.  “The heart of a king is in the hands of the Lord; He directs it like a watercourse wherever He wills.”  Proverbs 21:1.

Please pray for us that the Name of Jesus will be lifted up, that preborn babies will have a defense, that the heart of abortionist Brent Blue will be softened, that God’s Church in Jackson will rise up to be a voice for those who have no voice, and that the city itself will begin to accept responsibility for being her brother’s keeper. ~ Flip

By Rebecca Huntington

Jackson Town Councilors voted Monday to allow a ten-by-eighty-foot display, which could include graphic images of fetuses, on the Town Square. Texas-based Operation Save America would be allowed to put up the anti-abortion display for four days in May. But the council denied the group’s request to set it up on a Saturday during the Boy Scouts annual elk antler auction.

Councilors said the content was not the problem, but that the display would compete for space with the Boy Scouts’ event.

Councilor Mark Obringer stressed that pro-life protestors could still come to the square. 

“It does not prohibit anybody from walking around introducing themselves, passing out brochures at any point… or carrying signs,” Obringer said.

The decision comes after Operation Save America won a ruling earlier this month from the Wyoming Supreme Court saying that the anti-abortion protestors’ first amendment rights were violated by efforts last year to keep the group from showing graphic images at the Boy Scout event.

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More on Our Victory in Wyoming

Little did we know, when we planned our way to make the theology of heaven become biography in the streets of Jackson, Wyoming, what God had in mind.  Jackson was and is perhaps the most God-hating, anti-Gospel, anti-life, city any of us have ever visited.  The citizens of this little 6,000 member community had a hard time covering up their visceral hatred toward anyone who would dare expose the “secret” sin of the community.  Though its population swells to millions during the skiing season and summer, it is still an incestuous, nepotistic, bastion of liberal “hate.”  The animus toward the God of the Bible is palpable and impossible to hide.

Yet, it was here that God chose to allow His theology to become biography through the lives of simple little Christian moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas, by becoming a voice for the voiceless.  We came to Jackson last May to expose the treachery of abortionist Brent Blue.  We came to make the Church of Jesus Christ in Jackson aware that she has a responsibility to stand in the gap on behalf of preborn children.  We came to let the city of Jackson know that “it takes a village to kill a child,” and that the blood of these innocent children is on her hands.  We came to let the world know that there is another King, and that His Name is Jesus!

We are coming back this May 16-20, 2012, to do the same thing.  Now, however, we are somewhat protected by a Supreme Court decision that will put a stop to many of the city of Jackson’s machinations to shut down our Gospel Proclamation.  It is amazing that this city will tolerate any other kind of speech or religion so long as it is not Biblical Christianity.   ~ Flip

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – A state court order that barred abortion protesters from appearing at Jackson’s town square last year violated the protesters’ constitutional rights, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

In a lengthy 3-2 decision, the state Supreme Court ruled the temporary restraining order issued by District Judge Tom Day violated the First Amendment rights of protesters with the group Operation Save America.

Dozens of Operation Save America members descended on Jackson last May with graphic signs of aborted fetuses that they showed around town.

The group said it picked Jackson for its campaign in an effort to make Wyoming the first state in which no doctors would provide abortions. The group targeted a family practitioner whom it said was the only doctor in the state to offer abortions.

The restraining order that Jackson secured from Day last year barred the protesters from appearing within two blocks of the town square. The town’s lawyer told Day that city police feared violence if the protesters came together with about 200 Boy Scouts and their families who were gathering for Elkfest, an annual auction of elk antlers.

The protesters weren’t alerted beforehand that the town was seeking the court order.

“Assuming the town had established a compelling interest in the protection of its youth and in maintaining the peace, we would nonetheless find the temporary restraining order unconstitutional,” Justice Michael Golden wrote for the court majority. “The town has not met its burden of establishing that the temporary restraining order ban was necessary to serve the town’s interest and that less restrictive measures would not have been adequate.”

Chief Justice Marilyn S. Kite and Justice William U. Hill wrote a dissent saying they believed the case was moot and that the constitutionality question shouldn’t have reached the court.

“No evidence was presented in this case that Operation Save America will return to Jackson and attempt to assemble or display posters during another scheduled event such as the Boy Scouts expo and auction or, in the event it does, that the town will again file for a temporary restraining order without providing notice and an opportunity to be heard,” Kite and Hill stated.

Rusty Thomas of Waco, Texas, is assistant director of operations for Operation Save America. He said Tuesday his group intends to return to Jackson next month. “I just got the news, and just tears of rejoicing,” he said of the court ruling. “The timing is incredible.”

Thomas said the group believes the ruling “strikes a blow for liberty and puts our government, both the federal and state authorities, on notice that the First Amendment is alive and well in the United States of America.”

Flip Benham, director of Operation Save America in Concord, N.C., said Tuesday the group has applied to the town of Jackson for permits to hand out materials next month but hasn’t received them yet.

“What they’ve done is put us off. They’ve said they’re going through new criteria for permits,” Benham said. He said the group’s experience in Jackson was the first time it has ever been restrained “from presenting the gospel.”

Attempts to reach town officials were not immediately successful Tuesday.

Audrey Cohen-Davis, lawyer for the town, argued before the Wyoming Supreme Court in November that it was proper for the town to secure the restraining order.

“Parents taking their Boy Scouts to the Elkfest event did not expect to have a group subjecting their children to such material,” Cohen-Davis said in November.

Jack Edwards, a lawyer in Etna, represented Operation Save America.

“I think it’s important to realize that the First Amendment, and the cases from the U.S. Supreme Court that have interpreted that amendment, were not to protect speech that people welcome and that people enjoy, but the basis for that amendment is to protect speech that causes arguments and dissent in the public square,” Edwards said Tuesday.

The state supreme court ruling comes just days after the state of Wyoming reached a settlement with another anti-abortion group, WyWatch Family Action.

In the agreement approved last week by U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal of Cheyenne, Wyoming admitted it violated WyWatch’s constitutional rights by removing anti-abortion placards from a tunnel leading to the state Capitol during last year’s legislative session.

The state agreed to pay WyWatch $1 in nominal damages and $30,000 in attorney fees. WyWatch was represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a national advocacy group for social conservatives.

Freudenthal allowed the American Civil Liberties Union to enter the WyWatch case to argue on the group’s behalf that the state had violated the group’s constitutional rights. Linda Burt, director of the Wyoming ACLU, said Tuesday that the courts decided both cases correctly by protecting public speech.

“While we disagree with both of the organizations involved in these cases, we firmly respect their right to discuss these issues in the public square,” Burt said. “The remedy for speech that you disagree with is more speech, and more debate and more information, and disallowing this kind of speech that you disagree with does not support that.”

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Two More Articles on Win in Wyoming

The nation is coming to know about the wonderful victory won yesterday in the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Enjoy! ~ Flip

CHEYENNE, WYOMING, April 10, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled today that the city of Jackson had violated pro-life activists’ First Amendment rights when it prohibited them from holding a protest on the city square last year.

Rev. Chet Gallegher and a Kansas Pastor of Operation Save America were arrested last May 20, when they attempted to hold a three-day vigil to oppose the state’s only abortion clinic, owned by Dr. Brent Blue. That’s when they found out city attorney Audrey Cohen-Davis had sought a temporary restraining order against them without notifying them. The group had no opportunity to defend itself before District Judge Tom Day granted the motion, to prevent the protesters from being in the same location as a group of Boy Scouts.

“We gave them our word that we would not bring our graphic signs to that venue,” Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas of Operation Save America told LifeSiteNews.com. “But we told them we would come, we would preach, and we would hand out Christian pro-life literature. Well, they didn’t believe us. Behind our back, they sought this order. When we arrived, that’s when we find out they had brought this injunction against us.”

Justice Michael Golden wrote the 43-page opinion for the court’s 3-2 majority.

“They ruled that graphic signs in the public square are free speech under the First Amendment, and anywhere we go on the public square that is to be protected,” Thomas said. “These local governments do not have the authority to remove or abridge or violate our First Amendment rights.”

“This is a major ruling,” he told LifeSiteNews. “It’s a great blow against tyranny and a great defense of liberty.”

The ruling made the second pro-life victory for free speech in Wyoming in April. Last week, U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal awarded $30,000 in attorney’s fees to WyWatch Family Action, which sought to set up a pro-life display in the state Capitol Building in Cheyenne.

The group plans to return to the city next month to renew their protests.

Thomas said he hopes Jackson police will better enforce public safety laws this year. “There were six separate incidents where the public used their vehicles to try to run us over,” he said.

“The problem was, because the police did not defend our constitutional rights and did not stop the violence toward us, it escalated. I understand they’re under pressure from the public, but they still have a job to do.”

At a separate protest the group held in Jackson Mississippi, a man with two hunting knives slashed a banner held by senior citizens.

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WND EXCLUSIVE: Court protects graphic abortion images

 April 11, 2012 7:07 am

 The state Supreme Court in Wyoming has issued a ruling protecting the graphic abortion violence photographs and images that pro-life protesters use to shock people into a debate on the procedures used to kill the unborn in America.

The ruling came today in a conflict between Operation Save America and the town of Jackson, which went to court and without notifying OSA obtained an order that the pro-life organization could not exercise members’ First Amendment rights in parts of Jackson last year.

A large part of the town’s concern was the “large photographs” of “disfigured and aborted fetus images.”

According to a report from Jackson Police Lt. Robert Gilliam, “the group has consistently demonstrated throughout the town of Jackson showing the same graphic photographs. The group has refused repeated requests from me and other law enforcement officials to remove these graphic photographs. This came after police received several hundred phone calls, emails, personal visits and face to face complaints from citizens who see the photographs as obscene and offensive.”

The city’s ultimately obtained an ex parte hearing, where a judge issued a temporary restraining order silencing the pro-life message without notifying OSA. The ex parte order resulted in Rev. Chet Gallegher and another of the protesters, ultimately being arrested for violating that order.

The organization, whose members hail from a number of states, dispatched protesters to Jackson in May 2011 to raise awareness to the abortion clinic run by Brent Blue.

Town officials were alarmed that Boy Scouts attending their 2011 annual Elk Fest in the town at the same time might see the images.

But the state Supreme Court found that just as speech on issues of public concern is protected, so are those images.

“We find that the ex parte [temporary restraining order] was issued in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Rule 65 of the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure,” the opinion said.

The opinion explained that the First Amendment does not protect everything – fraud, defamation, obscenity and fighting words are not protected, for example.

But it added, “Speech on public issues or matters of public concern ‘are classic forms of speech that lie at the heart of the First Amendment.’ … Speech directed at abortion policy is public issue speech.”

“The fact that the messages conveyed by those communications may be offensive to their recipients does not deprive them of constitutional protection,” the panel wrote. “As a general matter, we have indicated that in public debate our own citizens must tolerate insulting, and even outrageous, speech in order to provide ‘adequate ‘breathing space’ to the freedoms protected by the First Amendment,'” the opinion said.

“We find that this level of protection must likewise be extended to the graphic photographs OSA chooses to use in its demonstrations,” the justices wrote.

“The Supreme Court has stated it will not expand the categories of speech that receive limited protection, such as obscenity, unless there is a demonstration of a longstanding American tradition forbidding such speech or expressive conduct,” the opinion said.

The opinion also found that the streets and sidewalks of Jackson are exactly what is thought of regarding a public forum.

Ultimately, the charges stemming from the arrests of the two pastors were dropped, but the appeal was continued to the state’s high court because of the likelihood that the situation can be repeated, since the pro-life protesters plan to return to Jackson in just weeks.

The other protestor told WND that the group’s activities had been routine – handing out brochures about the issue of life, marching sidewalks to declare the message and asking residents to pray for the abortion business operator.

He said while the images do upset people, they should direct their objections to those who made the events captured in the photographs happen.

“Are we more concerned that we’re showing the image, or the fact that the image was produced,” he wondered. “My children grew up seeing those signs, they understand someone hurt the baby.”

Town officials did not respond to a WND request for comment.

Gilliam had explained that he complained to OSA officials about the images.

“The conversations … regarding the graphic signs have been cordial but matter-of-fact like. They acknowledge the signs are graphic and offend most people, but that is their intent. They wish to ‘shock’ the public into taking their side on the abortion debate in this country,” the court ruling noted he said.

“The topic of abortion incites like no other issue in this country today. It divides the nation, our religions, our families, our politics and our society. The issue arouses deep passions that find full expression in full an open and public debate that gives all participants the satisfaction of a fair and full hearing,” the opinion said.

There also was no evidence that there was a danger of a “breach of peace” and no reason to have the ordered issued in secret, the opinion said.

“The town has not met its burden of establishing that the TRO ban was necessary to serve the town’s interest and that less restrictive measures would not have been adequate,” the opinion said.

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PRESS RELEASE – Operation Save America Vindicated In Wyoming Supreme Court

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

10 April, 2012

Operation Save America Vindicated In Wyoming Supreme Court

“We find that the ex parte TRO was issued in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Rule 65 of the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure and reverse.” – Wyoming Supreme Court, April Term, A.D. 2012, Operation Save America Appellant (Defendant), v. The City of Jackson Appellee (Plaintiff)

Wyoming Supreme Court:  Ban on Abortion Protest Unconstitutional!

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – As Operation Save America begins its “States of Refuge” campaign (Statesofrefuge.org) we were greeted with some miraculous news from the Supreme Court of the state of Wyoming today.  It ruled that a lower court order prohibiting gentle Christians from displaying graphic signs of “aborted” and “living” babies at the Jackson town square last year was unconstitutional.

In a 3-2 decision released Tuesday, April 10, 2012, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by District Judge Tom Day violated the First Amendment rights of members of  Operation Save America.  On page 27 (#67) of the 43 page decision the court said, “OSA’s speech is protected public issue speech, and based on these precedents, any restriction on that speech must be carefully scrutinized.  We find that this level of protection must likewise be extended to the graphic photographs OSA chooses to use in its demonstrations.”

A Kansas Pastor and Chet Gallagher were arrested by Jackson police last May for a violating the TRO.  “All praise to our Lord Jesus for this victory for OSA, for Christians, for Americans, for life, and for the Kingdom of our Lord.” – Kansas Pastor  

 Pastor Rusty Thomas, Assistant Director of OSA said, “When the case was argued before the Supreme Court, we prayed to God for two blessings.  First, that the court would rule favorably and strike a blow against tyranny to preserve our liberties.  Second, that the ruling would come before we went back to Jackson, Wyoming to further the “States of Refuge” campaign.  We are pleased to report that our Lord graciously answered both these prayers.”  (254)-715-3134

Contact:  Pastor Rusty Lee Thomas (254) 715-3134 

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Word and Warfare in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Rusty, Coach and several other hardy saints read the entire Bible through at the gates of hell – South Dakota’s last remaining abortion mill. That’s right! At the same time Chet Gallagher and I were reading through the Bible in Jackson, Mississippi, Rusty and the guys were doing the same in Sioux Falls. We are looking to present to Almighty God the first abortion free state this January 1, 2013, at the 150th Anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s official signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Flip

Dear Champion of the Lord and the Preborn,

Today, we finished reading aloud the entire Bible at the last remaining death camp in South Dakota. We demonstrated our faith in God and His Word as we unsheathed the Sword of the Spirit at the gates of hell. Planned Parenthood and the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota was put on notice. There is another King, one called Jesus and the awkward peace this city has with child-killing is over. The following is a picture of the crew who accomplished the mission. For four of these men, it was the first time confronting an abortion mill with the Gospel of the Kingdom. They each promised it will not be their last. Praise God for raising up good soldiers of Jesus Christ in the battle for the souls of men, the lives of children, and the future of our nation.

Word in Warfare Team in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Word in Warfare Team in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

It has been almost a year since we took the Gospel of the Kingdom to Jackson, WY. The city has not been able to get over it. Our event has been in the news throughout the entire year. What will they do as we make our way back and confront the last remaining abortion mill in WY this year? No need to ask. This was published in today’s paper as we are getting ready to revisit this city and expose the hidden works of darkness perpetrated by the abortionist Dr. Brent Blue.

The States of Refuge vision marches on! Brethren, pray for us!

Elkfest to see protest return

Abortion opponents, arrested last year will be back, plan to read Bible at doctor’s office.

By Emma Breysse, Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

April 4, 2012

A religious group that drew fire last year over displays of photos of aborted fetuses plans to visit Jackson twice this spring, including the weekend of Elkfest.

The Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas, assistant director of Operation Save America, said Tuesday the group plans to send protestors to the Elkfest event in May. Police arrested two members of the group last year for allegedly violating an injunction, leading to a battle over free speech that remains in front of Wyoming’s Supreme Court.

The group also plans to send protesters here in late April to march in front of Dr. Brent Blue’s office.

“There’s going to be wave after wave,” Thomas said. “We’re just trying to give God reason to show mercy to a land that’s killing babies.”

Participants plan to read the entire Bible aloud in front of Blue’s office this month as part of an expanded campaign. They say he is Wyoming’s sole abortion provider.

The “Word in Warfare” protest will last three days, Thomas said, but he could not give specific dates.

Jackson Town Clerk Olivia Goodale said Operation Save America applied for a permit to protest “along the western fence” of the park on Town Square between May 16 and May 20. The Boy Scout elk antler auction portion of Elkfest, which is on Town Square, is scheduled for May 19.

Goodale’s office is still processing the permit request, she said, so she declined to comment further. The Jackson Town Council likely will decide on the permit April 16, she said.

When asked why Operation Save America chose to come during the event a second time, a Kansas Pastor said the reasons are purely practical.

“It’s just that it’s the same weekend we came last year and it works for everyone,” he said.

Last year’s protests, which were the first of Operation Save America’s campaign to eliminate abortion from states where the practice is “vulnerable,” drew counter-fire from pro-choice locals who objected to graphic signs.

By the time of the 2011 antler auction, Lt. Bob Gilliam of the Jackson Police Department said in an affidavit that he feared allowing the graphic photos at the auction would lead to violence against the group.

This year, Wyoming event leader said members of the group plan on adding a much larger tower display that prominently features photos of aborted fetuses, but they would probably work with the town if officials asked them not to use it during the antler auction.

Jackson Police Sgt. Cole Nethercott said local law enforcement is aware of both planned protests and is working out the best response in light of the potential for conflict.

“As of the current time, we don’t have any plans in place, but we are planning how best to be ready,” he said. “Our concern is the safety of all involved on all sides, whether protestors coming or local citizen protestors.”

Last year, the town sought a temporary injunction barring the group from Town Square during the antler auction. Public safety concerns, along with worries about exposing Boy Scouts to the photos and potential violence, swayed 9th District Judge Timothy Day, who granted the order the evening before the auction.

Operation Save America did not hear about the attempt to obtain the injunction, or the order, until the morning of the auction.

When the pastor and another group member passed out literature in the square, police arrested them. Teton County Prosecutor Steve Weichman later asked that the misdemeanor charges of violating a court order be dismissed.

He said Tuesday he remembers language in a Wyoming Supreme Court case at the time that gave him “very grave concerns” about whether the charges were appropriate. He said Tuesday he couldn’t recall the specifics ecause he was not in his office at the time of a telephone interview.

The pastor contends dropping the charges was part of a deliberate strategy to silence a message town officials didn’t like.

“That’s the way police departments silence the gospel or speech they don’t want to hear,” he said. “They arrest you and then say, ‘Oh, never mind’ and dismiss the charges once they’ve done what they wanted to do.”

Weichman said he preferred not to address the pastor’s remarks or make any statements not already on the record in a court of law regarding the situation.

The pastor’s accusations are “patently untrue,” Town Administrator Bob McLaurin said. The group was barred only from Town Square and only during the day of the auction. Operation Save America has the right to return and protest if members choose, McLaurin said. He said he knew of the permit application but hadn’t seen it, so he was not comfortable commenting further.

The pastor said he was worried about the town’s reaction to his group this year.

“I think we saw last year that First Amendment guarantees are not of any importance to the Jackson police,” he said.

Last year’s conflict lives on in the Wyoming Supreme Court, where Operation Save America appealed the original restraining order, claiming the process the town went through to get it was unconstitutional.

The town did not notify representatives of Operation Save America about the hearing on the order, which occurred about 12 hours before the antler auction began.

There were other legal remedies aside from a restraining order for public safety worries, the group argued in its appeal. The town argued there was a pressing and immediate need to protect the town and the auction attendees, and the terms only applied to a limited time, date and area, so the law allowed for the order.

The high court heard oral arguments on the case in November, but has yet to issue a decision.

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