Veteran beat up for protesting at Clinton speech on freedom

[SuperflyTNT]

http://www.skyvalleychronicle.com/BR...protest-596038

LOL, guess the 1st Amendment only applies when you have nice things to say.

[Raudulfr Shieldcrusher]

I'm absolutely astounded by this clip. Clinton didn't even have the slightest hitch in her voice as he was hauled away.

[mac122]

If the report is accurate and all the man did was stand silently, then this was an egregious act.

Contrast this story with this one about a veteran speaking at Columbia University.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/20...ersity-speech/
If only he had Ms. Clinton's security.

[Raider30]

Originally Posted by SuperflyTNT

http://www.skyvalleychronicle.com/BR...protest-596038

LOL, guess the 1st Amendment only applies when you have nice things to say.

What problem exactly do you have with the situation as described by the article linked and shown on the video clip in the link?

- Raider30

Originally Posted by Raudulfr Shieldcrusher

I'm absolutely astounded by this clip. Clinton didn't even have the slightest hitch in her voice as he was hauled away.

Why would you be astounded that a trained public speaker would choose to ignore a disturbance and continue on with her presentation?

- Raider30

Originally Posted by mac122

If the report is accurate and all the man did was stand silently, then this was an egregious act.

Contrast this story with this one about a veteran speaking at Columbia University.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/20...ersity-speech/
If only he had Ms. Clinton's security.

I am curious, what do you find egregious about it specifically?

Also, the link you provided certainly does go to show the double standard the left lives by when it comes to this sort of thing.

- Raider30

[Dad_Scaper]

Friends and Family of Meredith Hunter Demand Apology from Rolling Stones

Film at eleven.

Originally Posted by Raider30

Also, the link you provided certainly does go to show the double standard the left lives by when it comes to this sort of thing.

I can't see the clip at the moment but, assuming it shows a guy getting beaten up & dragged out of an event, it doesn't show anything about "The Left" unless it was The Left doing the dragging and beating, and not a couple of guys who happen to work security.

I would no more ascribe political motivations to them, whatever their personal politics, then I would ascribe political motivations to any other random violent peron...

[Raider30]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

Friends and Family of Meredith Hunter Demand Apology from Rolling Stones

Film at eleven.

I can't see the clip at the moment but, assuming it shows a guy getting beaten up & dragged out of an event, it doesn't show anything about "The Left" unless it was The Left doing the dragging and beating, and not a couple of guys who happen to work security.

I would no more ascribe political motivations to them, whatever their personal politics, then I would ascribe political motivations to any other random violent peron...

You have your links mixed up. The first is in the OP. The second, referenced in my post you quoted is about an army vet who is heckled, shouted down, and generally treated poorly by what I generally(yes I know its a generalization) 'the left'.

My point is there is often a double standard applied when people are outraged about this particular thing. An Anti-war veteran stands up, does his protest thing and gets taken out and there is a collective outrage. Meanwhile another veteran is heckle and shouted down by the 'left' and that is seemingly fine.

- Raider30

[mac122]

Originally Posted by Raider30

I am curious, what do you find egregious about it specifically?

Also, the link you provided certainly does go to show the double standard the left lives by when it comes to this sort of thing.

- Raider30

Taking the article and the video at face value, and assuming that the man was not disrupting the event or making any threatening moves, it is egregious to me that someone engaged in a silent protest would be treated in that fashion. That being said, I wish the video showed his actions and the actions of the security personnel in their entirety. We don't know how much he resisted or if his own actions caused some of his injuries. Was he first asked to move or leave or did the security immediately grab him and try to hustle him out? He has the right to protest Mrs. Clinton's speech, but others have just as much right to hear and see her presentation.

[Mombo101]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

Friends and Family of Meredith Hunter Demand Apology from Rolling Stones

Film at eleven.

I can't see the clip at the moment but, assuming it shows a guy getting beaten up & dragged out of an event, it doesn't show anything about "The Left" unless it was The Left doing the dragging and beating, and not a couple of guys who happen to work security.

I would no more ascribe political motivations to them, whatever their personal politics, then I would ascribe political motivations to any other random violent peron...

Well, here's the thing. I'm going to bring out some questions in regards to the video...

1) You only see the tail end, or what seems like the tail end of the "incident". With the caption I was thinking it was the entire thing, not a small portion of it. Is what was said in the article the events as they took place? To me, there seems to be some tweaking of facts and removal of facts...we can only figure out if this is the case if we have video of the ENTIRE incident.

2) Everyone present for the speech was sitting down. Why was this man standing in the first place? For protest? Maybe. But, if you were Homeland Security, or security in general, and everyone present in a small venue (which it looks very small to me, possibly a small library conference room....it is George Washington University after all) is sitting...then suddenly a guy gets up and stands up with his back to you in the middle of your speech. Wouldn't you be startled? Even I, as liberal as I am, would think this is really strange and possibly some sort of sign/signal. There are some crazy people in this world, and you have to expect the unexpected.

3) It looked like the guy was fighting with police/security, again though we don't see the entire incident. It doesn't seem like a situation (as the article tries to insinuate) where police went up to the guy and needless started to beat on him. Again, is the article truthful? Did police try and move him away peacefully only for the guy to resist? Again, we only see a small portion of the video, and need to go by what the article says. There's not enough information here.

4) From what I understand of press conferences, and speeches with high level politicians, due to security there are a number of rules that one has to go by, and it doesn't matter if one is a Democrat, or Republican, if you don't follow the rules you will get kicked out and/or arrested. Was one of those rules that were told to the people that they must remain seated? Again, it doesn't seem like we have all of the facts here.

I'm not saying I agree or don't agree with what occurred. All I am saying is I don't think we have enough information.

[Dignan]

Originally Posted by SuperflyTNT

http://www.skyvalleychronicle.com/BR...protest-596038

LOL, guess the 1st Amendment only applies when you have nice things to say.

Really?!? People have nothing better than to try and find crap to get pissed off about. What's so OUTRAGEOUS about what happened?

Someone is giving a speech. Another person makes a scene (albeit silently, but a scene none the less). The scene distracts the audience and the speaker and is a nuisance to people there trying to listen to the speech. The protester is removed.

If even he was offering praise for Clinton he would still be asked to sit down. He's likely be removed (or relocated) if he refused to do so. It's part of common courtesy.

What's the big deal? Should people have to suffer through anyone's silent protests and distractions? If I'm at the screening of a documentary should I have to endure some dude standing in front of me the whole time just because he's trying to make a point?

This is America. You have the right to say what you want, but there are also consequences. When you infringe on others they might want to do something about it and might be within their rights to do so. Get over it.

[SuperflyTNT]

Jason, you've got your 1st Amendment law all F-ed up. First, the 1st Amendment only protects you, as you noted, from the Government stopping you. The government has no right to snatch you out of a room, dishonor you, and beat your ass for political protest. That's what happens in Libya, not what's supposed to happen here.

Second, I would agree with you about consequences, but only from private citizens. This was a public employee speaking in a public event. If you were at a documentary, I'd agree that you should be removed by the operator. But at a public event, it's political speech, which is CLEARLY protected. The government has no authority to arrest you.

She was speaking about how "peaceful protests should be tolerated and the people listened to", and ironically, as it happened in front of her the dude was whisked away by PUBLIC SERVANTS.

I call you an asshat, there's nothing stopping from you coming up and calling me an asshat back. I call you an asshat and then you beat me up, guess who's going to jail? You are.

So how is it OK for a peaceful demonstrator standing up, turning his back, and being hauled off like a common criminal? You're really OK with that? Hope you never have any grievences against the government....because when they're tear gassing you I think you may change your mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWXOORUxOIY
Here's a real news story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSiBp...eature=related
And another.

And here's a call that came in from the Clinton camp afterward, not acknowledging it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ir1j...eature=related

I mean, it's all over the news, if you pay attention. This guy is an ex-vet, ex-presidential-level CIA analyst who had the crap beat out of him for STANDING UP.

[Rich10]

Originally Posted by SuperflyTNT

So how is it OK for a peaceful demonstrator standing up, turning his back, and being hauled off like a common criminal? You're really OK with that? Hope you never have any grievences against the government....because when they're tear gassing you I think you may change your mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWXOORUxOIY
Here's a real news story.

While the response to the protest was ironic given the topic of Clinton's speech, appearing on Iranian television is even more ironic. Instead of 3.5 hours in a US prison, how much time would he have spent in an Iranian prison if he tried this in Iran?

I don't know what the laws are regarding behavior at such events, but it reminded me of the "don't tase me bro" film clips.

[Greyelephant]

Am I the only one here who is glad we didn't see a shot of Clinton's fat ankles?



According to one of Superfly's videos, the guy was supposedly trying to hold up a sign. If I was security and I was seeing someone doing something suspicious, I would haul his butt away too.

It would've been nice to see the whole event play out. With only seeing the end result of him being dragged away, we've no idea what the guy was really up to.