Home News Local News Animal advocates, public rally behind woman, 84, arrested and handcuffed for removing...

Animal advocates, public rally behind woman, 84, arrested and handcuffed for removing circus signs

Southld Town police.

An elderly woman who said she was handcuffed to a desk at the police station for an hour after being arrested for removing signs for an upcoming circus spoke out Friday about her experience.

Describing her arrest, Flynn said police put her in handcuffs and then, in the back of the police car. “I was taken to the police department and put into the back of the interrogation room,” Flynn said, adding that she was kept in handcuffs attached to the table for over an hour.

“It is not uncommon for anyone arrested to be placed at a processing station while the officer finishes all of the paperwork associated with an arrest, which can be at least an hour,” Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley said in an email Friday.

Flynn said she was also fingerprinted and a mug shot was taken.

“It was an experience,” Flynn said. “Someone said maybe there were trying to humiliate me. But they didn’t humilate me. I made up my mind that I was going to present a calm, intelligent, ladylike front. They weren’t going to rile me up.”

Since her arrest, Flynn, who has a court date at the end of August, said she has gotten offers for legal support.

“I say to myself, ‘Why would I need legal support? You have justice on your side.’ But I guess that’s now how they view things.”

Since the arrest, Flynn has had a flood of public support from the community. Of the circus reps who had her arrested, she said, “I think they may have shot themselves in the foot. This has raised a brouhaha.”

Flynn, a passionate animal advocate, said she was at a meeting organized by Long Island Orchestrating for Nature with the Greenport Fire Department last year, to protest the “abuse and mistreatment of animals forced to perform in these shows.”

Other municipalities and organizations have canceled their scheduled circus dates, Flynn said, but not Greenport. Despite being presented with alternatives for animal-free circuses, the ideas were “just ignored” and the Greenport event is still slated to go on, she said. The hope, she said, is that protests will ensure residents “boycott” the circus. “I hope they get a poor turnout,” she said.

Reading a passage from the book “Elephant Company,” by Vicki Constantine Croke, Flynn, holding back tears, described the “horrifying” process by which “‘wild animals were trapped and broken . . an ordeal that lasted however long it took to instill terror and destroy and animal’s spirit, to guarantee absolute compliance. Need more be said?'” she asked.

Flynn has a long history in Soutold Town: She and her husband John were awarded for their work on establishing the Dream Green contest at Eastern Long Island Hospital; they were founding members of the arts in town and she also worked with the North Fork Environmental Council.

An ardent animal lover, Flynn now has one dog, Alec.

Animal advocates have stepped up to support Flynn.

“While we do not advise anyone take Cole Bros.’ signs, we do advise people call the Village of Greenport and the Town of Southold to speak out against this advertisement of animal abuse occurring on public land and in support of Marilyn. Cole Bros. Circus has been cited for violation of the Animal Welfare Act as well as criminal violation of the Endangered Species Act,” said John Di Leonardo, president of LION.

“Their abuse is documented and this documentation has been given to and presented before the Greenport Fire Department by myself, alongside Marilyn. For them to continue to host this criminal organization, now at the expense of an elderly resident, it is shameful. There are better ways to fundraise than supporting animal abuse and we would be happy to help them with alternatives if they would give us the courtesy of a response. Marilyn Flynn is a passionate advocate who has tried time and time again to stop this abuse through compassionate dialogue. She has been ignored, so we totally understand her actions, and are hopeful her actions spark the dialogue that has been denied all these years. Rather than be seen as a criminal, Marilyn should be seen as a kindly woman cleaning up litter that is polluting her town. Cole Bros. are the criminals, not Marilyn.”

Resident Mike Ohara sent a comment to Southold Local, questioning whether the signs were erected in violation of town code.

“I, for one, will not attend their event unless they drop their charges against this 84-year-old-woman and I hope others will contact Cole Bros. and express their feelings, also,” he wrote.

“We support Ms. Flynn, as she is a kind and gentle soul, and will continue to speak out against Cole Bros. Circus, who has a history of USDA violations,” said Julie Cappiello, vice president of LION.

According to Southold Town police, Marilyn L. Flynn, 84, of Cutchogue, was arrested on Thursday at 3 p.m. after she was observed by a passing motorist removing signs advertising the circus from the side of the road on Route 25 in Peconic.

She was located at her home with two circus signs, police said; a circus employee wished to press charges and Flynn was charged with petit larceny, a misdemeanor, police said.

Flynn was arrested and processed at Southold Town police headquarters; she was released on $100 bail and given a future court date, police said.

The Cole Bros. Circus is scheduled for the Greenport Polo Grounds on Moores Lane for July 24 and 25, with shows at 5 and 8 p.m. In recent years, animal advocates, including Flynn, have turned out to protest the event.

A request for comment to Cole Bros. Circus was not immediately returned. A call to the Greenport Fire Department for comment was not immediately returned.

Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. By law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

SHARE