Man Arrested For Protesting Against Illegal Alien Workers Vindicated In Court
You may know him as “The Lone Protester”…Score one for the good guys…
COLUMBIA, S.C. – A jury found Terry Funderburk not guilty on Feb. 21, 2008 and Funderburk said, “It was like a thousand pounds had been lifted off my chest.”
The 52-year old roofer, who became known nationally as “The Lone Protester,” was arrested on July 16, 2007 on a disorderly conduct charge for protesting in front of a home in the ritzy Woodcreek Farms subdivision in Columbia, as illegal alien workers were installing copper roofing.
Funderburk was carrying a sign that read, “Illegals Quit Stealing Our Jobs!!!” as he protested up and down the street in front of Larry McDaniel’s home.
McDaniel called Columbia Police, who arrested Funderburk, and in his court testimony McDaniel claimed Funderburk was loud, impeding traffic and swearing.”
Funderburk admits calling McDaniel a “cheap bastard” to his face when he was outside his home, but aside from that, Funderburk said he was simply protesting with his sign, waving at motorists, many of which he said gave him a thumbs up.
After spending a night in jail, Funderburk began posting his story on conservative and antiillegal immigration blogs using the name “The Lone Protester” to post messages.
After Funderburk’s story was featured on CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight” last August, he gained attention nationwide.
Funderburk specializes in copper roofing, a business he operates with his son and another employee.
When Funderburk bid on McDaniel’s copper roof work, he said McDaniel told him he had “international roofers” working for him that were getting paid $5 to $6 per hour, so Funderburk better sharpen his pencil if he wanted the job.
Funderburk said those were the wages top roofers earned back in the 60s and 70s.
So, when Funderburk saw illegal aliens doing the copper work on McDaniel’s roof, he’d finally had it.
Funderburk went home and told his wife he was probably going to jail, made a sign, and told his son to grab his camera, park across the street and take pictures because he was probably going to be arrested.
And arrested he was. Police officers handcuffed Funderburk in the middle of the street. They eventually placed him in a squad car and hauled him off to jail.
His son documented the entire ordeal.
Funderburk’s trial was delayed time and time again. Prosecutors even attempted to double up on the charges against Funderburk in an effort to coerce a plea agreement out of him.
It was all to no avail, though, as Funderburk steadfastly denied violating any laws during his protest and refused to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit.
Funderburk says the entire state of South Carolina is a sanctuary zone for illegal aliens and the employers that hire them.
In November, Kentuckians For Immigration Reform & Enforcement posted an article on its website by Funderburk, where he wrote, “Our home and commercial construction industry is flooded with illegals and their criminal employers and nothing is ever done to correct the problem. In fact, our politicians and law enforcement professionals here practice the art of killing the messenger instead of alleviating the problem by simply enforcing our laws.”
Funderburk went on to say the June 27 edition of the state newspaper quoted Jo Dell Pickens, a Columbia roofing contractor, as saying, “I employ 22 illegal aliens; they are a fact of life in the roofing industry here in Columbia,” and asked, “Has she been arrested for her crime? That was six months ago and she has yet to be arrested and tried. No, she gets a free pass from her enablers.”
While Funderburk insists his protest and subsequent arrest were directly related to illegal immigration, Columbia Municipal Court Judge Steven Dennis tried to keep the court focused on the issue at hand and said, “I’m not trying illegal immigration. I’m not trying the First Amendment. I’m trying a disorderly-conduct case.”
When the jury came back with their verdict of “not guilty,” Funderburk’s expression of jubilation, “I’ve been vindicated,” resonated across the country.
(Sonoran News)
Nods to Texas Mom.
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Ole`! A todos los illegals en los E.E.U.U.: ¡Consiga la cogida hacia fuera! = to all illegals in the U.S.A: Get the fuck out!
February 29th, 2008 at 1:06 pmI thought that those nice people coming here were only going to “do the jobs that Americans won’t do”.
You know the phrase ‘doing the jobs Americans won’t do’, both billary and President Bush have said this disgusting bullshit line.
They are taking trade jobs from Americans. Plain and simple. You want a house built, plumbed and wired by some guy that learned his trade in some third world hell hole? Some one that does not give a shit about the quality of their work, since they are transient criminals anyway?
People can bitch about union labor in the trades, but you hire a union tradesman and they have had years of training as an apprentice before they can even qualify for their journeyman’s license. You will get the job done right, you will get what you pay for.
…..
I had F&F on this morning and that piece of shit geraldo is claiming the opposition to illegal immigration is racist. This is not racist, this is security and economics.
February 29th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Well I lost my good paying constuction job to illegals as far back as 1990. And nothing still has been done about it. Way to go Terry for sticking up for your right to earn a living in your own country.
February 29th, 2008 at 1:27 pmShame on the police, the judicial system in So. Carolina and the Federal government for letting this get out of control and to this point where Americans have to go to jail for sticking up for themselves.
See… this whole “lets build a big ass berlin wall along the southern border” is a crock of shit to me.
we need to sting the douche bags that hire illegals. with no one hiring, the illegals will not come. it worked in AZ.
February 29th, 2008 at 3:00 pmRight on, Terry . Whenever I have work done on my house, I insist that the workers be legal. I refuse to work with these dirty bastards who hire illegals for personal gain and to the detriment of the American worker. It’s a shame our government fails us so.
February 29th, 2008 at 3:37 pmSo why hasn’t McDaniel been arrested for violating the IRCA — Immigration Reform and Control Act which makes it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit undocumented immigrants?
February 29th, 2008 at 3:44 pmModern slavery. That’s all it is. Slaves in the 19th century were paid wages equivalent to what illegals are paid now. It’s exploitation of all parties involved, especially the American taxpayer.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:44 pm“International roofers”…that makes me mad. That’s something I would expect out of bill clinton, not a South Carolinian. Bloody semantics.
February 29th, 2008 at 5:30 pmwhy not get rid of americans that dont wana be here first? like code pink,barak,richard simmons,britney spears, id rather have some mexican dude living here than the people i mentiond. DEY DOOK OUR JAWBS!
February 29th, 2008 at 6:27 pmDEY DOOK DOUR DERRRBS!
February 29th, 2008 at 7:04 pmEverything in that article was right except for one thing. I wasn’t in Larry McDaniels face when I called him a cheap bastard. The prosecutor used a city ordinance and the charge was “Using a fighting word”. His entire case was hinged on that. It means that I called in that in order to get into a fight with him.
There was only one problem with it, when I said you cheap bastard, I was in the back seat of the cop car, handcuffed and locked in. So that charge did not apply to me. That is why the jury found me not guilty.
March 1st, 2008 at 5:22 amNow that the protestor has been acquitted he should consider further action: (1) file a legal ethics complaint against the prosecutor, if as stated in the article the attorney used possible additional charges in an effort to corece a guilty plea, (2) since he was engaged in lawful protesting, a protected activity, sue the persons involved for depriving him of his civil rights while acting under color of law. The trial judge implicitly acknowledged the First Amendment implications of the case noting that the judge was not trying the First Amendment. The protestor can now raise those issues in other litigation.
March 4th, 2008 at 1:59 pmGovernor Mark Sanford on Illegal Immigration
March 5th, 2008 at 3:32 pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHJohB8htGk