As Kos and Josh Marshall noted today, this is truly insane.
The Secret Service is investigating whether an anti-war bumper sticker that was found on the car of three people had something to do with whether they were removed from President George Bush’s town hall meeting in Aurora last week.
The three people say they obtained tickets to the invitation-only event through the office of Rep. Bob Beauprez, R-Colo. They said they passed through security but just as they were preparing to take their seats at the event they were approached by what they thought was a Secret Service agent, who asked them to leave.
One woman, Karen Bauer, 38, a marketing coordinator from Denver, said the agent put his hand on her elbow and steered her away from her seat and toward an exit.
We’ve heard about people being excluded from presidential events for being Democrats. Others because they’re related to Democrats. Still others because of a lapel pin the Bush gang found insufficiently sycophantic. But here’s an example of American citizens getting escorted out of a public event, dealing with a public policy issue, on public property, featuring public officials, because someone didn’t like their bumper sticker.
Thankfully, a lawsuit is in the works.
The three who were removed, along with their attorney, Dan Recht, met with [Lon Garner, special agent in charge of the Secret Service district office in Denver] Monday. Recht said he may file a lawsuit based on the group’s alleged violation of their First Amendment rights.
“They hadn’t done anything wrong. They weren’t dressed inappropriately, they didn’t say anything inappropriate,” Recht said. “They were kicked out of this venue and not allowed to hear what the president had to say based solely on this political bumper sticker.
“The very essence of the First Amendment is that you can’t be punished for the speech you make, the statements you make,” Recht said.
Stay tuned.