Robin Hensel is a 58-year-old mother, grandmother and foster mom whose family has a distinguished military history. Her father, two brothers and two uncles all served. One uncle, a pilot, even died in the military. One of the reasons they all served, she believes, was to protect her right to free speech.
That's why Hensel is puzzled and angered that exercising her free speech has gotten her into so much trouble in Little Falls. As her story spread across the Internet, Hensel even got death threats because she's had the audacity to give voice to such controversial topics as health care and peace.
Hensel has always been opinionated. She is well-read and listens to Minnesota Public Radio and likes to stay informed. But she noticed her viewpoints were not often presented in small towns in central Minnesota and decided to do something about it.
She put signs in her yard that said "Occupy Wall Street," "Back the 99 Percent" or "Boycott Monsanto."
Neighbors were not thrilled and complained to the city. It turns out there's a city code that a "political sign" can be displayed on a lawn for 90 days prior to and five days following an election. Residents can also get a permit to post one non-political sign for 30 days.
When city officials told Hensel she was violating the ordinance, she took the signs down immediately. Then she put them inside her house in the windows because at least Americans still have free speech inside their own homes.
But then Hensel did something that got a lot of people really mad. She noticed that a banner that has been hanging in a public square for 10 years also violated city ordinances. This time, however, the sign said: "We Support Our Troops."
Hensel agrees with the sign, except she thinks that the best way to support them is to bring them home from two wars. But she figures if her signs violated city ordinance and had to come down, then so does the troops banner. So she filed a complaint with the city.
