My wife, Sandra, and I attended St. Louis Congressman Russ Carnahan’s panel on aging. The tactic was clear. They let in about two hundred of us but had about 120 seats set aside, marked “RSVP,” and these were for Carnahan supporters. These people were let in by a side door for the “handicapped.” Many had purple t-shirts with “Organizing for America” in white letters on the back and large “SEIU,” smaller “Service Employees International Union” on the front. [Ed Note: The events described were on August 6, 2009]
They shut the doors on about 1000 people around 6:30 pm for the 7:00 pm event. After being introduced, Carnahan spoke but was booed frequently while the supporters stood and applauded. It was announced that there would be a question and answer period at the end, so “be respectful.” Then a regional director of AARP spoke to many boo’s, followed by about five other speakers. The dissenters waited somewhat patiently, waiting to pounce on the Congressman during the Q&A.
Finally, Carnahan stood for questions. It turned out that the questions had to be written and turned in. The dissenters booed, shouting that they didn’t know this and hadn’t been given a chance to write any. It didn’t make any difference, because he answered a couple of seminar questions and then announced that he had to leave about 8:30 for an “interview”–after most of the time had been taken up by the panel. A late-evening interview seemed contrived, and people booed, while most left while the “stooge” panel ran cover for him by taking questions from those who stayed after Carnahan left.
Strategy: Lengthy panel, a few staged questions at the end from a select group, and time conveniently runs out. Congressman exits.
Then, as Sandra and I walked back to our car, she stopped to look at some buttons and flags, “Don’t Tread on Me,” etc., being sold/given away by a nice, young black man (38–as it turns out–seems young to us–Ken Gladney was his name), when–just as she was walking away–a large, black man in a purple t-shirt confronted Gladney. Sandra heard him call him a, “son of a nigger,” a phrase she had never heard before. The black man (I heard later he was supposed to be a minister) slapped Gladney’s hand holding the yellow flags. Then he punched Gladney in the side of his face, knocking him down. Another large, purple t-shirt white guy attacked him from behind. The fight continued across the sidewalk, out into the street, with Sandra and me and several others trying to break it up. We got Gladney on his feet, and the white thug jerked him down to the ground–again from the back.
We finally corralled the police, and they arrested the two tea-shirts. As it turns out, Sandra and I were only two of three witnesses to the start of the fracas. This becomes important, since the union thugs claim Kenneth Gladney started the fight. As far as I know, Sandra is the only one who heard the racist remark to corroborate Gladney’s statements.
Another fight erupted among two women, when a union woman hit a small white woman who had been videoing her touching people, trying to incite a physical reaction–trying to start trouble. Then another fight among some women brewed up, resisting the police. The instigators were arrested.
Mr. Gladney is considering suing the union thugs for a hate crime, among other allegations. Sandra and I might be called as witnesses, both in that action as well as any criminal prosecution of the union people.
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