Walking to San Antonio: Got a permit for that?

The story of State Rep. Aaron Pena and the band of veterans who are walking from Edinburg to the Alamo to highlight the need for a VA hospital in South Texas took a bizarre turn earlier today.

Around noon on Thursday the group reached San Antonio and were given a police escort through the city.

Late Wednesday night, city leaders met to discuss whether or not to escort them through the city.

[...]

At one point, the Bexar County Sheriffs Department called the group and told them they could not enter Bexar County or the city of San Antonio without a permit. If they did, they risked being arrested.

This morning both the mayor of San Antonio and the Bexar County Sheriff department denied having said that.

I wish I could find another story on this, because I have a hard time imagining a stupider thing for an elected official to do than to bust a group of military veterans for, essentially, walking without a permit. Did someone think this was a parade? Yes, of course, there's a public safety issue with a group of people walking alongside a highway, but it's not like these guys were sneaking up on anybody. There was plenty of time to take care of whatever concerns the city officials may have had. This should have been handled better.

In the end, despite being briefly halted, everything was worked out, and the troupe will reach its destination around noon on Friday, Veterans' Day. I hope the mission that they set out to accomplish has as happy an ending as that.

The latest posts from Rep. Pena:

Day Five: Break the Chains That Bind You

Day Five: Crossing the Nueces River

Day Five: Dark Clouds Arrive As Veterans Threatened With Arrest

Day Six: Though I Walk Through The Valley Of Evil I Fear Not!

Day Six: San Antonio 22 Miles and Counting

Day Six: Confrontation and Imminent Arrest of Marchers Averted by Last Minute Call

Posted by Charles Kuffner on November 10, 2005 to The great state of Texas | TrackBack