Thursday, we had a story about a local group’s effort at performance art. They orchestrated a 5 minute display that had dozens of people stationed throughout downtown streets and sidewalks. They all focused on an unplugged television for the entire segment, saying nothing.

The event seems harmless enough, except one Roanoke City Police officer didn’t see it that way. At first, he politely asked one of the participants to move. He was concerned that she was impeding pedestrian traffic in front of the Roanoke City Market Building. If you’ve been there during the lunch hour, you know that sidewalk can get congested and it was obvious that some people were walking in the street to get around the woman. You can see how that might be perceived as a safety hazard.

When the woman refused to move, things escalated. Here’s a link to the video, given to us by Suzun Hughes of Roanoke.

In the video, you’ll see that the woman also refused to give the officer her photo ID. At one point, she even appears to run away from the officer. In reality, she was just moving so she could see her unplugged television that the officer kept shifting. Not once during the entire encounter did the woman break her performance.

Again, the officer started politely enough. But, by the end of it he was yelling. He even grabbed the woman by the arm and put her in handcuffs. Yes, handcuffs. She was driven off by police. We eventually learned she was released after being given two summons, one for impeding foot traffic and another for obstruction of justice.

This has sparked a loud debate. Who was right: the woman who was part of a peaceful, some would say wacky, 5 minute art display? Or the officer who was well within his right to clear the sidewalk and ask the young lady for her ID? I really don’t know. Further, I think the question should be: who was wrong?

To me, the answer to that is easy: both were out of line.

The young lady should have obeyed a simple request from the police officer. All she had to do was move in closer to the television and he likely would have moved on. Further, when a cop asks for your ID, you give it to him/her. It’s one thing to be arrested during a peaceful sit in showing support for the victims in Darfur or fighting for equal rights for minorities. But, being arrested for refusing to move during a 5 minute “Must See TV” performance art event doesn’t seem to rise to the level. Not even close!

And the officer seemed to go over the top when he grabbed her by the arm and appeared to arrest her for such a minor issue. It appears he was unaware that this was a five minute stunt. And here’s the real irony: the officer’s actions actually ended up attracting an even larger crowd and kept the sidewalk in front of the Market Building even more congested during that five minute window. In the end, his actions made the situation worse (if you agree that she was blocking the sidewalk).

So, both ended up losers. But, there was a winner… the organizers of the event. Their stunt would have been noticed by a couple hundred people, a blip on the radar screen if not for this turn of events. Now, tens of thousands have seen it. It has people thinking and talking, which I believe was the entire purpose of the event to begin with.