A southwestern Wisconsin man is fighting a civil citation for bringing a sign that read "F U G W" with him as he watched President Bush pass through Platteville last week.

Andrea Baker, an attorney for Frank Van den Bosch of Montfort, argued in a motion filed May 10 in Grant County Circuit Court that Van den Bosch's sign was clearly protected under the First Amendment right to free speech.

"It's just a creeping theocratic fascism that's moving into the land here, where dissent is unpatriotic," said Van den Bosch, 53, a member of the Southwest Peace Fellowship, a social issues group.

According to the motion, which asks that the citation be dismissed, Van den Bosch was standing along a street in Platteville May 7 with his sign waiting for Bush's motorcade to pass. Bush made campaign stops in La Crosse and Prairie du Chien that day.

Police told him he couldn't display the sign. Van den Bosch then changed the sign to say "Free Us G W" and added "End the Occupation" on the back, referring to the war in Iraq.

A few minutes later, another police officer came over and ordered Van den Bosch to surrender the sign. Van den Bosch rolled up his sign and moved to the back of the crowd. He held it up as Bush went by.

Police then handcuffed him and took him to the police station, where he was photographed, fingerprinted, cited $243 for disorderly conduct and released. He hasn't paid the fine, Van den Bosch said.

Platteville Police Lt. Tom Schmid said a business owner along the street had complained about the sign, and officers thought children might see it. Van den Bosch wrote the letters "R E E" and "S" in tiny print, Schmid said.

"We had to take some action," Schmid said. "If we were wrong, then the citation will be voided and taken care of that way. That's the way the system is supposed to work."

Van den Bosch is scheduled to appear in court on May 17.