Dan and Donna Holman, of Keokuk, got a little more than they bargained for while they were protesting abortion at the Iowa Straw Poll Aug. 11 in Ames.

They claim Donna’s First Amendment rights were violated while she engaged in street protest activities from the sidewalk. Dan argued their anti-abortion case in the designated protest area while Donna carried a banner featuring a large picture of a dead fetus and the message “Poor Baby, Poor Choice, Abortion” and a smaller, homemade Ron Paul sign. The Holman’s troubles began after Donna carried her signs to the corner of 16th Street and Elwood Drive, where voters were turning into a parking lot to join the festivities.

“The sidewalk was very wide and I wasn’t blocking anyone’s way,” Donna said.

Donna said she carried her sign up and down the sidewalk and never entered the street or blocked any portion of the sidewalk for approximately two hours before she was approached by law enforcement officials and asked to return to the designated protest area.

Donna said she was told by the police that her sign had garnered complaints. Story County police contend that they simply directed Donna to move her sign a few feet down from her present position to prevent a line of sight blockage at the intersection.

Two of the officers involved, Lt. Dru Toresdahl and Sgt. Jeff Dodds of the Story County Police Department, maintain that their reasons for removing the sign were in the interest of public safety.

Story County Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald said Donna was confronted because the police department had been informed by the Republican Party of Iowa that there were going to be upwards of 40,000 people at the Ames Straw Poll and the police would have to contend with hazardous traffic conditions.

Officer Toresdahl said Capt. Gene Deisinger, of ISU Police, approached Donna and asked her to move her sign as Dodds and Toresdahl looked on.

“I was in a really good place and I wanted people to see the sign before they voted,” Donna said. “I felt like they took away my U.S. constitutional rights.”

So Donna stood her ground.

Story County officers said she was very argumentative and repeatedly asked questions concerning the officers’ authority, whether they had guns and badges, and if she was going to be shot.

After attempts at pacifying Donna failed, Toresdahl said he stepped in. Officer Toresdahl explained that reasoning with Donna seemed to be producing no results, so he issued a final ultimatum and warned her that if she didn’t move down the sidewalk, there would be consequences.

“‘We’ve made it clear, we’re not going to arrest you, but we are going to confiscate the sign,'” he said.

After she refused, Donna said the officer threw her sign to the ground after grabbing it, then dragged it to the back of his vehicle. Toresdahl said the sign was on a makeshift pole that came apart into sections, and when he took it away from Donna, it fell apart, so he had to gather the individual pieces and roll it up before leaving with it.

The Holmans said they then attempted to file a stolen property report with both the Story County Police Department and the Ames Police Department. However, they said they were told that because their property was considered seized, they were not allowed to file and were unable to retrieve their sign.

Fitzgerald received a letter from the Holmans stating that he was being charged $200 per day for their sign and that they wished for its immediate return, as it was a $3,000 sign. He said he sent a letter to the Holmans explaining that their version of the facts and his version differed, and that he’d be perfectly willing to allow them to pick up their sign during normal business hours at the station, but that he wouldn’t be paying any fees.

Because of Keokuk’s distance from Ames, Donna said doesn’t feel she should have to drive the 460-mile round trip it would take to get her sign back. She and her husband claim they have retained an attorney and will be suing both the Story County Police Department and the ISU Police Department for violating her right to free speech and illegally holding personal property.

When asked if this incident has affected her feelings on future protest, Donna said, “We will probably protest here in the future because we want to educate people about abortion.”

Fitzgerald hasn’t received any legal correspondence from the Holmans, but said he is confident his officers acted in the best interests of the law and public safety.