Following up on an item from a few days ago, John McCain hosted a town-hall meeting in Denver on Monday (the event at which he called the Social Security system a “disgrace”), that was open to the public. Carol Kreck, a 61-year-old part-time librarian, attended the event, and stood outside with a hand-held sign with her that read, “McCain=Bush.”
She was ticketed for trespassing, escorted by police off the premises, and told that she would be arrested if she came near the event. To refresh your memory:
I argued that this was an example of McCain following closely in Bush’s “Bubble Boy” footsteps. Some commenters and emailers suggested this wasn’t fair — the decision to remove Kreck was made by the Secret Service, the argument went, not the McCain campaign.
I’d hoped it was obvious, but just to set the record straight, we know that Kreck was removed because of the McCain campaign’s policy, not the Secret Service.
In fact, the Secret Service heard the criticism, and its spokesperson told reporters, “Contrary to some recent reporting, the Secret Service had no involvement in Ms. Kreck being removed from the area. It was not done at our request or suggestion. Any assertion to the contrary is inaccurate and inconsistent with our established policies and procedures.”
Now, to be fair, I should note that it’s not as if a McCain aide saw Kreck and sent law enforcement after her. It appears that the McCain campaign told the Denver Center for the Performing Arts that they didn’t want people holding signs “within the Arts Complex,” and officials, using this policy as a guide, targeted Kreck.
This strikes me as a little odd. I understand that signs could, in theory, block the view of other people in an audience, but Kreck was standing outside, in line. For that matter, I watch some of McCain’s events on C-SPAN, and I see people holding pro-McCain signs all the time (“Hunters for McCain,” “Wisconsin Loves McCain,” etc.).
Put it this way: if Kreck were standing outside, on the Arts Complex’s pedestrian walkway, with a sign that read, “Vote 4 McCain,” does anyone seriously believe she would have received a citation and been threatened with arrest?
As for the politics of this, to reiterate a point from the other day, had officials at the event simply left Kreck alone, most of the attendees probably would have ignored her and her sign would have been of no consequence. However, by giving her a citation and threatening her with arrest, officials have created a legitimate and widely-reported news story and given Kreck a platform she wouldn’t have had if they’d just let her be.
Kreck’s court date is July 23. I’ll let you know what happens.