Current location:	Detroit, where the weak are killed and eaten
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Entry tags:	bullying, rules are for suckers

Steampunk fans ejected from San Diego area mall
Kim Keeline describes being booted out of the mall for cosplaying in Steampunk Carousel Outing Cut Short By Security Guards.

When I chose my long floral skirt and the matching puff sleeved Victorian top, and put the green feather in my hair, I didn't realize I would be seen as a threatening figure. I just chose the outfit because I thought it was pretty. With my husband, in his brand new top hat, and the rest of my family, I was looking forward to a fun and slightly whimsical day, with a short ride on a carousel and what I hoped would be some flattering photos. It didn't have to turn into a run-in with police.

A group of people in Steampunk clothes gathered to ride the carousel at the Westfield Plaza Camino Real (in either Carlsbad and Oceanside, depending on whom you talk to). This was the third such gathering to ride a carousel. In October the group had been at Westfield Parkway Plaza (now no longer a Westfield, but it was at the time) and in December they were at Seaport Village.

Before 1pm, as a few of the Steampunk fans were walking the mall to shop and eat lunch before the carousel ride, security stopped them and insisted that they leave because of their “costumes.” They also called the Oceanside Police, who sent two cars.

As I was one of the carousel riders, I want to clear up a few facts about this event.

Far more at the article at the link, which is currently among the most emailed and commented on at KPBS's site.

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	khym_chanur 2014-02-22 07:24 am UTC (link)
	One of the security guards was Othar Tryggvassen, who thought they were all Sparks. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	darksumomo 2014-02-22 12:52 pm UTC (link)
	Krosp approves. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	the__ivorytower 2014-02-22 04:17 pm UTC (link)
	GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER! (and yeah, holy shit this sucks) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	darksumomo 2014-02-27 06:48 pm UTC (link)
	LOL. A mention of Othar wouldn't be complete without his title. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	seiberwing 2014-02-23 07:13 pm UTC (link)
	I was expecting corsets or those...I don't know what you call them, the dresses with the train in the back and cut up to mid thigh in the front. I can barely tell that some of those outfits are "Victorian" rather than the sort of slightly unusual I see at half the coffee shops in the city. WTF. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	kijikun 2014-02-23 07:38 pm UTC (link)
	It probably partly boils down to money. The mall is mad because they didn't pay the mall to have their group there. (Reply to this)(Parent)

phosfate
2014-02-24 03:39 pm UTC (link)

Protip: Malls are private property. If you catch their eye, security can basically do anything they like and you have no recourse. If you're white and middle class, you probably have no experience of this and find it shocking. If you aren't, you already know it.

If you're planning something like this, call first, and if they say no, there's nothing you can do.

It's unfair and arbitrary. People photograph their kids on Westfield carousels all the time. Last week I saw a bunch of high schoolers walking around with fucking swords they'd bought at the Asian gift shop, and nobody said a word to them, because they were white high school sports team in for some kind of state championship, and obviously spending money. Several shops actually sell head-concealing hoodies, which one would think would be in violation of their so-called code of conduct -- I suppose it depends on who's wearing them. But it's reality.

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mmanurere
2014-02-24 09:04 pm UTC (link)

Actually, it's a bit different in California. There was a case at the state Supreme Court that ruled that, basically (IIRC, and IANAL) free speech rights still apply on private property as long as that property is open to the public and as long as you're not disrupting business. (I think the court case involved a union handing out leaflets; even though they were more or less trying to convince people not to shop at a particular store in the mall, the ruling was that as long as they didn't create a disturbance or block access to stores, they were within their rights.)

Commercial behavior could be regulated, as could (one would assume) anything that disrupted business or monopolized the space...but a group of people showing up in interesting outfits to patronize one of the attractions in the mall would seem (again, IANAL) to be less of a borderline case than the union info campaign that was ruled an exercise of free speech.

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	airawyn 2014-02-27 06:17 am UTC (link)
	"These rules are obviously made to avoid having masks (a threat of robbery being the issue there) and to avoid gang colors and signs that would start a fight." They weren't wearing gang colors, though. Mall security would totally have been justified if they were wearing gang colors. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	phosfate 2014-02-27 12:59 pm UTC (link)
	"The rules don't apply to us! We're white, for God's sake!" (Reply to this)(Parent)

darksumomo
2014-02-27 06:52 pm UTC (link)

When I wrote about his at my Blogspot, I pointed out the implications of malls being private property.

This last is a major point in Edge City, a book about how suburbs started to cut themselves free from the central city for shopping and employment. Malls are a major part of that infrastructure. Policies like the one described in the article is one reason why shopping malls are a poor substitute for the public square.

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phosfate
2014-02-27 07:00 pm UTC (link)

No foolin'. And it's not just suburbs. We destroyed a thriving downtown when it was decided to knock down a bunch of street-level retail and turn it into a four-block windowless mall in the seventies. It's never recovered. Now there is no shopping, no affordable eating, no public transport after 6 pm, no medical care, about a hundred bars where the uni students binge drink on weekends, and a fucking Walgreens that sells outdated milk.

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