"All I saw was lots of really bad polyester suits, a few bored people smoking cigarettes and someone rambling on a microphone," Rosch says. "But I at least wanted to see what was up with these people."
But she adds that one "wizened, old church lady," who commenced yelling at the newly arrived Rosch about having "no shame" — presumably mistaking her for a pro-topless activist, given her attire — did provoke Rosch to cross the line from observer to participant.
"I walk up, and this woman is assuming that just because I don't have shirt on that I'm affiliated with the counterprotesters," Rosch recalls. "I was met with some really odd hostility. I realized that these shenanigans might actually change things, and that I might not actually be able to walk around with just a bra on."
So — Rosch took her bra off. But now firmly associated with the pro-topless counterprotesters, the exchanges with some of the anti-topless protestors became more heated. From there, things escalated quickly, with one of the anti-topless protesters trying to cover her up with his jacket.
Although she didn't realize it at the time, Mumpower's protest was already being counterprotested by local GoTopless organizer Livienne Love. Rosch says she doesn't know Love, and knows very little about the GoTopless group's platform. By the time she met Love and the other counterprotesters from GoTopless, Rosch says she was already being interviewed by members of the media.
"[Love] didn't come near me until I was already on camera," Rosch claims. "I think I stole her press. I didn't realize I was crashing someone else's protest."
And the more Love began to talk, the less comfortable Rosch started to feel being associated with her.
"I realized that the topless lady was really odd," she says. "I didn't really agree with either side."
Things might have de-escalated from there, but, as things happen, another anti-topless protester's taunt got under Rosch's skin, she says. As she recalls it, a woman called out to her and said, "You filthy Pagan animals ain't fit for clothes anyway."
Rosch's response? "I dropped my skirt. I pretty much flashed this lady. It was kind of like, 'If I'm an animal, I don't need clothes.'"
In that moment, Rosch says she knew she was going to jail. "At that point, I was ready to kill that lady. I needed to be protected and served to jail."
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