The Rockville Runaround

A security guard saw us coming and immediately went inside. We were hoping to speak to one. I held up my sign and started saying variations on this theme: “Extra! Extra! Read all about it! A cancer patient tells his story in today’s Rockville Gazette. He needs the FDA’s help!”

A soft-speaking guard with an accent came up to us and told us we had to stop. We pleaded our case, told him that we had contacted security several days prior to our arrival and had not heard back but that we had a right to protest on the public sidewalk but he wouldn’t have it. He told us we had to leave and couldn’t take pictures either.

He kept asking for our names and addresses and we kept asking him questions.

I didn’t have the e-mail on me so I told him I had to go to my car and get the sheet that showed we contacted security. He went back inside and we went to our car. The next thing we know we had six security guards swarming around us and our car like a bunch of angry bees.

We gave them the email, and answered all their questions and they wrote down our license plate, names, and Kerry’s phone number. We gave them some flyers and a www.CareToLive.com button and we kept throwing Melody’s name around (Arnie’s even came up once in the FDA lobby). We again pleaded our case and our rights and they said they had to get clearance.

It was very windy, cold day there and we stood in the parking lot next to our car, (a “The FDA Is Broken, Approve Provenge Now, www.CareToLive.com” T-Shirt hanging “in your face” in the right side rear window), with one of the security guards who stayed and acted like he was supposed to guard us.

We waited who knows how long, but it felt long standing in the cold, feeling like we were under lockdown, and we finally asked the guard to call them for some reason, and he radioed and the answer came back something that made us think they hadn’t even begun to find out. So we asked if we could leave, and he had to radio to see if we had permission to leave, and we did, so we paid the parking fee and left.

From there we went to Barnes & Noble and got six copies of today’s Rockville Gazette. Our ad is on page 33. We spoke with a couple of store clerks and gave them some buttons and flyers. Then we scotched taped the printout of the ad on the community bulletin board in the adjoining Starbucks. (It was the only thing on the board).

Next we went to All Seasons Florist and chatted with Amy. She was as described, very nice. We dropped off some flyers and buttons and told her to look for the ad in today’s Rockville Gazette. She said she reads that paper. Then she gave us directions to the brand new Rockville Public Library. We wanted to go on the internet to get a few phone numbers, but don’t have their library card, so we were unable to. We also tried to leave some community flyers but they have a lot of bureaucratic red tape.

Click Here for a link to the FDA flower delivery story: http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/03/the-provenge-anniversary-roses-for-andy/

I wonder if CareToLive can get permission to put a sheet of paper with our information in the libraries, which we could all drop off personally and even mail them to libraries around the country. Perhaps we can put it on their bulletin boards. We left that for another time.

We checked in with KD and he said to head back to the FDA building as many of you were working the phones and getting us some help. A reporter from the Rockville Gazette was going to be there so we hurried back. I held the sign, shouted the above chant, and managed to give out a few flyers and chat with a man who seemed interested.

I played it cool as I didn’t want to walk on “Government Property” until I saw the reporter.In the meantime, Rory went inside the FDA building to challenge their earlier reaction. She came back out after a while and said I had to put down the signs since they said we couldn’t have them, and that we couldn’t be anywhere, even on the sidewalks, and that we had to wait in the lobby to meet with security. She had been given the runaround from a lower level security employee saying we could not be there and she finally managed to produce a document with the rules where she pointed out that no solicitation or vending could be done there, to which R replied, we were not selling anything.

To keep this part short, we are still waiting for a copy of that sheet which 2 or 3 sets of security personnel have promised us a copy. We took a seat on the couch and prepared to sit and wait and wait and wait, which we did. They had plenty of help, with 2 receptionists and 3 manned checkpoints, 2 with machines to scan pocketbooks and briefcases, etc, with additional security backing them up. The FDA were very generous with three free copies of the Wall Street Journal on the front desk.

The receptionist told us to sit and wait for internal security.Somebody finally came down and he also did not seem quite clear on the rules but did say that we could hand out flyers on the sidewalks in front of the building and we could hold up our sign. It seemed to boil down to that we couldn’t block people from entering, and we couldn’t obstruct the crosswalk, which we had no intention of doing. We may even be allowed under the awning. I am not sure. It was not very clear. You would think they could provide us with a written confirmation of what our rights to protest are, seeing as how they saw fit to impede that right and stifle our free speech for the entire morning and most of the afternoon.

So we got to tell the story and hand out some flyers while the folks went to and from lunch. Six taxi cabs pulled in and hauled some people away. Then the reporter from the Rockville Gazette showed up and interviewed us. We told of everything we mentioned above and the whole sordid tale. He took notes but didn’t know if it would make the Rockville Gazette since it was not really a local story. But it is a local story because we were told we had to get permits from the City next time. Then we told him about the flowers and how Federal Agents went to see Amy at All Seasons. Now he was interested.

So, overall, it was a good start. We made our appearance known. We also found out that we are not allowed to take pictures of Federal Buildings since 9/11, but they apparently make exceptions, and apparently we may or may not fall into that subsection.

All in all, everything was, and still is pretty confusing, and that is on their end. Each department and division in that department, has different rules and regulations and lack of coordination within the building of who and what was to be done about 2 people handing out literature on the sidewalk outside the FDA Building.

The internal security guy, Mike Fenslau, will be e-mailing with us and setting parameters up for us (but then told us we need a city permit, do we or don’t we, the shadow knows. He wanted us to come back for a meeting the next day. Now he wants to set up a teleconference with us and Melody. Why can’ t they just email us the parameters, these are your rights, end of story.We achieved our main goal of introducing ourselves, raising awareness, and not being carted off to jail. THANKS TO ALL FOR COMING ALONG!

Click Here for a link to the ad we took out in the Rockville Gazette on 4/2/2008