by Craig Boehman

Free speech advocates celebrated chalking demonstrator Jeff Olson’s jury acquittal on Monday of all 13 counts of vandalism for writing anti-bank slogans on sidewalks with water-salable chalk. Bank of America had pressed charges relating to Olson’s personal protest outside of three BoA locations in San Diego between April and August of 2012. San Diego resident Olson, 40, faced up to 13 years in prison on misdemeanor charges and $13, 000 in fines if convicted.

The acquittal comes a few days after Judge Howard Shore issued a gag order to silence Olson because of comments Olson made in public about the absurdity of the charges brought against him. “Judge Shore has issued a gag order prohibiting all counsel and parties from commenting or expressing opinions on the case upon penalty of criminal contempt. All I am permitted to say is that I disagree,” he told RT via email over the weekend.

Olson was accused of writing such slogans as “Big banks, no thanks” and “shame on Bank of America” using children’s chalk on public sidewalks. According to ABC 10 News, Mayor Bob Finer called the case against Olson a waste of time. Deputy City Attorney Paige Hazard argued that Olson had to make “a real nuisance of himself” to get arrested. She explained that if Olson had only done it a couple of times, he would have never been caught, but he “went back again and again and again.”

Olson said he was relieved about his acquittal, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. “It’s been an incredibly stressful situation. It feels really good to know that the people of San Diego as represented by the jury are on my side,” he said. In the wake of the nation-wide Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in 2012, protesters were also participating in various Move Your Money campaigns. The UK-based organization states on its website why people should move our money away from Wall Street banks and into local banks or credit unions.

“The banks won’t change of their own accord and politicians and regulators are too narrowly focused on maintaining the status quo, so we must be the agents of change, “ they said. “It is simple: make a positive decision about where to put your money.” The group claims that more than 2.4 million customers have made the switch in 2012. Olson expressed similar sentiments. He encouraged people to close their Wall Street banks and switch to a local nonprofit credit union. The Jeff Olson arrest and trial galvanized freedom of speech advocates from across the country. Likewise, expressing his disgust with Wall Street bankers was reminiscent of the core platform of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

A group of Olson supporters had been planning a one year anniversary protest of Olson’s arrest on July 19 in San Diego. Despite Olson’s acquittal, plans for the protest will continue. “We will still be protesting,” wrote Taylor Niemy, 28, of Bremerton, Washington. “but in celebration of the acquittal and to support freedom of speech.”

Laila Vermeers, 32, also from Bremerton, Washington, is a former San Diego resident who organized the Chalk Up San Diego event in San Diego to correspond with her trip there this year. “I am organizing this peaceful protest on behalf of Jeff Olson and Taylor Niemy, and anyone else who may have been targeted for a similar act that we may not have heard about, “ she wrote. “I believe that allowing government to threaten our rights, even if it is only one man, we open the door to allow them to infringe on the rights of everyone.”

Niemy encountered resistance with Bremerton city officials for his chalk protesting activities in 2012. During one incident on a public sidewalk between The Hampton Inn and Starbucks, Niemy was interrupted by a police officer while chalking a list of 23 grievances. The list originated from the NYC General Assembly’s Declaration of the Occupation of New York City, a formal document from the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Niemy’s work was later washed off the sidewalk by the Bremerton Fire Department. In a letter to the Bremerton City Council, Niemy wrote, “This to me is overkill and a waste of time and resources for something that the rain will take care of.”

No charges were brought against Niemy, but he has decided to mark the one-year anniversary of his quarrel with the city by organizing his own Chalk Up Bremerton protest set for August 18. Both Niemy and Vermeers believe that the real criminals deserving of hefty prison sentences are running Bank of America – not protesters like themselves or Jeff Olson. “I am trying to get people to draw with chalk either messages to the City of San Diego, big banks, or anything that is not slanderous or offensive language,” wrote Vermeers. “…I encourage people to get involved wherever they are.”