Lake County Prosecutor Wages War Against Individuals With Autism?
1 year ago Edward Strauss thought he was redressing his government by participating in a political protest against the Lake Station police department at Riverforest School in New Chicago Indiana. Little did he know that the protest he participated in would lead him straight into an alleged war against Autism.
Strauss had known his whole life he was socially awkward. He didnt know why he was differant but he knew that he processed life differently than others do. It has only been a couple months since he was diagnosed with Aspergers or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) High Functioning Autism.
So as you can imagine according to court documents, Strauss dressed up in a pig costume with a blueline flag Cape, blue line boxers, a Northern Indiana L.E.A. polo, and fuzzy cuffs. Walking up to the back of a Lake Station squad car in that garb and gyrating his hips at the back end of the car. Apparently we are to assume and take it as a “fuck the police” type gesture.
This whole incident had been allegedly streamed live on Jeremy Seabolt’s youtube channel Indy Blue News. Apparently both had been in town that day protesting the New Chicago Police Department for action taken against Seabolt days before.
Now one might think that this type of protest on school grounds would not be a permitted act and that Strauss was squarely in the wrong. Strauss knew however that under Indiana statute an act is not obscene if it falls under several exception categories one of them being that if “an act is considered political as a whole”.
We might be apt to say that dressing in a pig costume named Qualified Immunity and gyrating at the back of a squad car may not be the most normal of social situations however under state law it fits squarely on the side of legal activity.
Strauss was charged after the fact days later with making obscene content harmful to minors and distributing it to minors, never arrested, and he never had to post bond.
So we ask with an act that fits so squarely on the side of lawful activity, why the county prosecutor Bernard Carter would initiate and continue to prosecute such an act of lawful activity? It cannot be because he believes it to be illegal. So the only options we can still see here are that he loves to prosecute those whom have aspergers for simply being socially awkward.
Or that as we see from Strausss’ most recent arrest video in East Chicago, IN that shows Strauss being arrested for calmly asking questions and not being disorderly at all, Carter and his staff are developing a history of continuing to prosecute lawful constitutionally protected activy against Strauss and others in an effort to wear them down into submitting and to trample their rights and prevent accountability and transparency in local county government.
The New Chicago case was scheduled for jury trial however was postponed. The new East Chicago case and the older Crown Point case that was transferred to East Chicago have not been set for trial yet however according to Strauss he has demanded a jury trial in all matters before the courts.
