A conservative YouTuber’s tense confrontation with a federal National Parks Service officer at a St. Augustine ICE protest Tuesday has drawn nearly 400,000 views in a matter of days.
Along with a film crew, Kaitlin Bennett of The Liberty Hangout attended the gathering at the Castillo de San Marcos to pose questions to attendees critical of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
A protest organizer, Kat Duesterhaus, counseled members of her group not to engage with Bennett and later requested that she be relocated to another area that had apparently been designated for counter protesters.
The Castillo is federal property, and a National Parks Service officer later approached Bennett and told her to move to what he referred to as a “First Amendment Area.”
“You don’t have a permit here,” he told Bennett. “They do. It is time for you to leave.”
Bennett declined to vacate, telling the officer that the grounds in front of the Old City’s famed fort are public.
“Do you want to move or do you want me to write you a ticket?” the lawman responded.
“I’m allowed to be on public property,” Bennett repeated. “I want my rights respected.”
At an impasse and with cameras rolling, the officer ordered her to relocate again.
“Over here is First Amendment Area number five,” he said while pointing. “For small groups and counter protesters. You’re a small group. You’re a counter protester.”
Bennett asserted that she was a member of the media, and was then led away from the protesters and given a citation for disobeying a lawful order.
The St. Augustine Police Department and St. Johns County Sheriffs Office were not involved in the incident.
“You are not allowed to stick a microphone in my face. So step back and get your microphone out of my face,” the officer told Bennett at one point, as tensions mounted.
The officer later handed her a ticket totaling $530 in fines.
The commentator then asked him what would happen if she returned to the protester cluster.
“You probably might go to jail,” he replied.
The officer cited the following federal law related to public order when explaining the ticket to Bennett.
Lawful order. Violating the lawful order of a government employee or agent authorized to maintain order and control public access and movement during fire fighting operations, search and rescue operations, wildlife management operations involving animals that pose a threat to public safety, law enforcement actions, and emergency operations that involve a threat to public safety or park resources, or other activities where controlling public movement and activities is necessary to maintain order and public safety.
Bennett said she would fight the fine in court.
The protest — which featured some motorists and motorcyclists playing Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” to show support for the agency — was otherwise uneventful.
