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In the body camera<\/span> footage, a police officer parks his black SUV on the grass, a rosary swinging from the rearview mirror. He exits his car, moves briskly past a pair of protesters, and points an accusatory finger at the suspect: a 7-foot-tall inflatable penis holding an American flag.<\/p>\n The alleged crime? Unclear. There\u2019s no sound at first, only the silent spectacle of a person in a penis suit turning toward a cop with a stance that says, \u201cWho, me?\u201d A handmade sign comes into view in the person\u2019s right hand. It reads \u201cNo Dick Tator.\u201d<\/p>\n The scene in the video unfolded last fall, on a busy road just off a strip mall in South\u00a0Alabama. The protester was Renea Gamble, an ASL interpreter who bought the penis suit at a nearby Spirit Halloween store.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody was cracking up. They just thought it was hilarious.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cFeaturing armholes, a sheer face panel, and an internal fan that keeps things erect,\u201d a description on its website reads<\/a>, \u201cthis costume is a guaranteed hit.\u201d<\/p>\n Gamble was just shy of her 62nd birthday when she joined the October 18 No Kings rally in Fairhope, a small city on Alabama\u2019s Gulf Coast. Organized by the local Indivisible chapter, which launched in 2025, the rally attracted some 1,000 people in deep-red Baldwin County, a mostly white, largely rural stretch of the state and one of President Donald Trump\u2019s most stalwart bases of support.<\/p>\n The turnout exceeded organizers\u2019 expectations. It also flew in the face of neighbors and critics who might dismiss protesters as paid agitators. \u201cWhen you show your face to people that probably see you around town and know you live here, it combats the narrative of, like, [George] Soros busing us in<\/a>,\u201d said Kayleigh Rae, who founded Indivisible Baldwin County.<\/p>\n Inspired by Portland\u2019s anti-ICE \u201cFrog Brigade<\/a>\u201d \u2014 which turned animal costumes into emblems of resistance<\/a> \u2014 the protest included a couple of unicorns and a blow-up chicken. But the penis was new.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody was cracking up,\u201d Rae recalled. \u201cThey just thought it was hilarious.\u201d<\/p>\n Fairhope Police Cpl. Andrew Babb was less amused.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m serious as a heart attack,\u201d he tells Gamble when the audio begins to play on the 14-minute body camera video. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna sit here and argue with you.\u201d<\/p>\n He demands to know how she could possibly justify such an obscene display: \u201cI would like to hear how you would explain to my children what you\u2019re supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Talking to a colleague over his two-way radio after the encounter, Babb described what happened. Gamble was dressed \u201clike a freakin\u2019 weiner,\u201d he says on the tape, so he ordered her to remove the costume. She refused, invoking her First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018That\u2019s not freedom of speech. This is a family town.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cI said, \u2018That\u2019s not freedom of speech,\u2019\u201d Babb continues. \u201c\u2018This is a family town and being dressed like that is not going to be tolerated.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n When she started to leave, \u201cI said, \u2018No, ma\u2019am,\u2019\u201d Babb says on the tape. \u201c\u2018Come here, I need to talk to you.\u2019 She pulled away from me, so I grabbed her and put her on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n The body camera footage tells a different story.<\/p>\n \u201cAm I being detained?\u201d Gamble repeatedly asks Babb, who ignores the question and continues to scold her. \u201cIf I\u2019m not being detained, I\u2019m gonna go ahead and leave.\u201d<\/p>\n When she turns to walk away, Babb steps forward and grabs her costume from behind, throwing her on her back. Angry protesters shout at Babb as he forces her to turn over. Two more cops help him pin Gamble on the grass and handcuff her.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the time I got there, the cops were stuffing an inflatable penis in the back of their car,\u201d Rae said.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n\n
\u201cA Freakin\u2019 Weiner\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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