People v. Pettigrew

John V. Vaughn,

J. The defendant was arrested and charged with committing the offense of disorderly conduct in violation *986of section 240.20 of the Penal Law. The defendant, dressed as a turkey, in conjunction with another, dressed as Santa Claus, was making speeches and handing out literature criticizing the commercialism of Christmas, the American involvement in the Vietnam War, the Kent State incident, racial inequality, and other matters. This conduct caused crowds of 75 to 100 people to gather, subsequently increasing to about 150 blocking the sidewalk and causing the blockage of part of…