Ένας χρονών διάκονος εκκλησιών 80 απομακρύθηκε από τη λεωφόρο λιμανιών Smith χθες σε μια αναπηρική καρέκλα και συλλήφθηκε από την αστυνομία για την άρνηση να αφαιρεθεί μια διαμαρτυρία μπλουζών Πόλεμος του Ιράκ.

Η αστυνομία είπε που φορά Zirkel, Bethpage, ενοχλούσε τους αγοραστές στη λεωφόρο αλσών λιμνών με την μπλούζα του, η οποία είχε τι περιέγραψαν ως «γραφικές αντιπολεμικές εικόνες.» Το Zirkel, ένας διάκονος στην κυρία μας του θαυμαστού μεταλλίου σε Wyandanch, είπε το πουκάμισό ότι του είχε τους φόρους θανάτου του αμερικανικών στρατιωτικών προσωπικού και Ιρακινών - 4.000 και 1 εκατομμύρια - και τις λέξεις «νεκρές» και «αρκετές.» Το πουκάμισο έχει επίσης τρεις κηλίδες μοιάζοντας με τα splatters αίματος.

Police said in a release last night that Zirkel was handing out anti-war pamphlets to mallgoers and that mall security told him to stop and turn his shirt inside out. Zirkel refused to turn his shirt inside out and wouldn’t leave, police said. Security placed him on “civilian arrest” and called police. When police arrived, Zirkel passively resisted attempts to bring him to a police car, the release said.

But Zirkel said he was sitting in the food court drinking coffee with his wife Marie, 77, and several others when police and mall security officers approached and demanded they remove their anti-war T-shirts.

The others complied, but Zirkel said he refused, and when he wouldn’t stand up to be removed and arrested, authorities brought over a wheelchair. “They forcibly picked me up and put me in the wheelchair,” said Zirkel, a deacon at one of the poorest Catholic parishes on Long Island, where a devastating fire recently destroyed the rectory and storage areas.

Zirkel was charged with criminal trespassing and resisting arrest. He was released on bail. A spokeswoman for mall owner Simon Property Group did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Generally speaking, a mall has the right to control what happens on its property, said John McEntee, a Uniondale commercial litigation lawyer.

Activists with dueling opinions had gathered to support and oppose America’s five-year campaign.

As Zirkel was being wheeled to the police car, the crowd chanted “We shall not be moved!” Moments later, they moved; police and mall security had ordered them off the property. Many joined a larger anti-war crowd assembled by the mall’s entrance, off mall property, on Veterans Memorial Highway.

They were complemented nearby by protesters saying the Iraq war is vital for security.

ANASTASIA ECONOMIDES AND MATTHEW CHAYES

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