As reported by News4Jax a 22-year old local musician was arrested and cited by police after playing the national anthem in Neptune Beach on the fourth of July.
His name is Lane Pittman and he was playing his electric guitar on the sidewalk on 1st Street and Margaret Street in front of his buddy’s home. According to Pittman, a sergeant from the Neptune Beach Police Department stopped by and told him to stay out of the street or he would go to jail. Pittman said he asked the officer if he could play on the sidewalk and the sergeant said he could.Before he knew it there was a crowd of about 200 people around him listening to him play and chanting his name as he played the national anthem.
When he was done playing officers handcuffed him and took him to the police station.
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Pittman said:
Neptune Beach Police Chief David Sembach said:He goes, ‘Spread your legs. Put your hands behind your back,’ and that was when I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. Is he serious? I’m getting arrested for this after I was told I could do it?
Out of respect for the national anthem, they let them finish the National anthem. He was told he was going to have to stop playing. He went to the sidewalk and continued playing, and it was only after the crowd was getting hostile, so the only way to stop it, since he wasn’t going to stop playing, was to take him out of the location.
As you can see by the video below, the crowd did not seem like they were getting hostile and they chanted for him to continue playing but he said he was done and started packing up his guitar right before he was arrested.
Pittman was charged with breach of peace which is a misdemeanor and he was given a notice to appear which is a written arrest.
Pittman hired Caleb Rowland, Esq. to represent him. Rowland had the following to say:
I’ve never seen a law that says you can’t play the national anthem on the sidewalk. Disturbing the peace could be used to cover a lot of conducts that may not necessarily be criminal. I guess we’re going to have to wait and see what the state attorney decides to do with it.
This is Pittman’s first incident with the police. He plays in his church band, is a high school lacrosse coach and is well-known in the area. Pittman also hopes he can be the Jaxson de Ville.