In March of 1949, a college student named Irving Feiner made a speech on a downtown city street in Syracuse, New York. A crowd of about 75-80 people both blacks and whites, gathered to hear Feiner talk. During his speech Feiner said a number of insultin g things about various politicians, local state and national. In Feiner's words, the Mayor of New York City and President Truman were all "bums." In his speech, Feiner also commented that "the Negroes don't have equal rights; and they should rise up in arms and fight for their rights."
When people arrived on the scene they (the two officers) expressed some concern with the flow of traffic in the area and the general restlessness of the crowd.
As Feiner continued speaking, a number of people in the crowd became increasingly angry and even threatened Feiner. At this point, one of the police officers asked Feiner to step down and end his speech. When Feiner refused to obey the policeman after b eing asked to step down a second time, the policeman arrested Feiner for disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct.
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