At this type of venue, with such a diverse gathering of people, you can expect to experience something that jars the senses, and
not always in a good way. This year's winner of the Provocateur Extraordinaire award goes to the A & E Network. Always at
this event you have some far-right Christian groups protesting these types of events. For the most part they are harmless and
really don’t bother too many people. Their main beef from what I can determine is that the attendees and participants to these
Cos-Play events are in need of saving. I have to say this is the first time I ever had a confrontation and this was an individual
who asked me why I would go into this type of event, stating that in their opinion I needed to get in touch with the Lord and
get saved. I started to answer him but I had decided that I would just ignore him and keep going on my way with him yelling
in the background. It is his 1st Amendment right to do this, just as it is mine to ignore him. No harm, no foul I figured and I
kept going. While waiting to cross from the Gaslamp Quarter over to the Convention Center I was standing next to a group of
young men and women with a loud speaker shouting to the Christian protesters. They were shouting “He has risen, Damien is
the true God, bow down to Damien”, etc. I looked at these individuals and they were dressed all in black with t-shirts that said
“Damien” in blood red lettering, while some shirts proclaimed “He has risen” which they further emphasized by holding
signs saying the same thing. They were very aggressively provoking the Christian protesters. I asked one of the men with a
Damien sign what they were doing. He said they were actors paid by A&E to promote the new series “Damien” on the A&E
Network this year. Out of curiosity I asked if he thought that this was wise or appropriate. I never got an answer from him and
as the walkway finally opened up I crossed the street and left this somewhat surreal scene behind. I know I wasn’t the only
reporter who strongly questioned the rationale behind this somewhat unconventional and provocative method of promotion.
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