UNIONTOWN, Ind. — A day after police arrested 15 people Friday for blocking traffic at a construction site where they believe an adult bookstore is being built, the protesters were back.
In fact, Eloise Brummett, of Jackson County, who was arrested Friday with her husband, Lloyd Brummett, said yesterday, “We came back yesterday (Friday) afternoon as soon as we got out.”
The protesters’ group, called Community Watchdogs, thinks a building nearing completion in Uniontown, about 40 miles north of Louisville, is slated to house an adult bookstore.
Developer Ron Stone of Ohio has said that he does not yet have a tenant for the building, The Tribune of Seymour reported.
Protester David Johnson said yesterday, “I’ve got a 15-year-old and a 12-year-old, and I don’t want to see nothing like this come in here.” Johnson, who was accompanied by his wife, Kim, said, “We don’t need nothing like this in a little town like Uniontown.”
There had been no arrests at yesterday’s protest by midafternoon.
One of those arrested Friday said the protest was sparked by concerns over public safety in the wake of the January murder of 10-year-old Katie Collman of nearby Crothersville.
“We did not want another Katie Collman,” said Bradley Smith, 21, of Crothersville.
The girl vanished Jan. 25 while walking home from a store, and her body was found five days later. Anthony Stockelman, 38, is slated to go to trial in February on charges he molested and murdered her.
Protesters blocked the entrance to the work site, off Ind. 250 at the Interstate 65 interchange, beginning about 6:30 a.m. Friday. Some stood arm in arm while others sat in lawn chairs or held signs that read, “Honk to Stop Porn.”
Workers called the Indiana State Police post at Seymour about 8 a.m. when they were unable to enter the site because of the protesters.
“They have a cause, and we have a job,” said worker Randy Lewis, of Chattanooga, Tenn.
Police arrested the protesters, who ranged in age from 21 to 71, after they refused repeated orders to disperse, state police said in a news release.
Nine of those arrested were from Crothersville. All 15 were arrested on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and obstruction of vehicles and taken to the Jackson County Jail, where they were later released on $350 bond each.
Yesterday, Lewis was back with his crew applying plaster to the single-story building.
He said, “When I took the job I was told that it was going to be a doctor’s office. About a week ago we kind of heard through the grapevine that it was going to be a video store. Then two days ago finally we heard adult video store.”
Lewis said, “I probably wouldn’t have come and took the job if I knew what it was.”
Debbie Hackman, a member of the Jackson County Council and the county Plan Commission, visited the protesters yesterday. “I live in the area and I don’t like it either,” she said of the idea of an adult business in Uniontown.
But Hackman said Jackson County does not have an ordinance that would restrict the opening of an adult bookstore. Stone’s permit calls for a retail operation but does not specify what kind.
Hackman said, “They can put in whatever they want,” as long as the site is zoned for commercial use.
