Protester at Manchester Road Race Says He Was ‘Unjustifiably Arrested’

Andrew R. Elliot, , says he was wrongfully arrested by the Manchester Police Department while trying to exercise his First Amendment rights.

Elliot, who was charged with first-degree criminal trespass and creating a public disturbance, attended the race carrying a black and yellow sign that read “UTC-SUICIDE.COM/” which is a link to a website created by Elliot. On the website, Elliot says he was wrongfully arrested while trying to exercise his First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceable assembly as a participant in the Manchester Road Race. 

“I did not break the law and what thousands of people actually witnessed was the Manchester Police completely violating my civil rights and right to free speech while I again attempted to embarrass UTC into a settlement by simply telling the truth of this sordid suicidal story,” Elliot writes.

The website also contains a link to a YouTube video of the starting line of the race that shows Elliot’s arrest. Elliot appears at about the 2:00 minute mark of the video slowly walking toward and then past the camera holding his sign aloft as hundreds of runners stream past him. He appears again at about the 3:23 minute mark of the video now being led in the other direction by three police officers, one of who now carries the sign.

Runners and walkers have traditionally run the sporting a variety of color costumes for years, some of which occasionally involve signs or messages. This year, 15,000 registered runners and walkers competed in the event, which does not include the unregistered runners who also particpate in the race each year, which some speculate can be as many as several thousand more. 

Cpt. Christopher Davis of the Manchester Police Department told Patch Thursday that Elliot had been warned by police before the race that he could continue to protest at the event, but could not disturb the race in anyway. Davis said Elliot walked out onto the racecourse and was causing runners to bump into one another to avoid him. 

Elliot’s website appears to be a long, rambling rant against the United Technologies Corporation, who he claims unjustly fired him after 19 years working for the company to develop experimental engines. In his writings, Elliot claims everything from being a maniac depressive to the victim of workplace harassment by a supervisor who was trying to drive him to commit suicide, says he is being monitored as a “person of interest” by the U.S. Attorney’s office, and that most U.S. politicians and the mainstream media are nothing more than cronies of UTC.

Elliot did not return a call seeking comment Thursday. He was released on a $1,000 surety bond and is scheduled to appear in court on the charges Dec. 6.