The Shadow
ROANOKE (AP) – Peace activists have resumed sidewalk demonstrations outside a downtown Roanoke building following the settlement of a free-speech lawsuit.
The Plowshare Peace and Justice Center restarted its monthly silent vigils with a gathering Saturday at the Roanoke City Market Building.
The group and the Market Building Foundation reached a settlement Jan. 6 in which the city leased back part of its own sidewalk to allow public assemblies to continue.
The foundation banned the demonstrations after it took control of the property last year in a lease agreement with the city. Plowshare’s lawsuit claimed the ban violated the First Amendment.
