Audience members escorted out of Sen. John McCain’s, R-Ariz., campaign event in Cedar Falls questioned why they were asked to leave Sunday’s rally even though they were not protesting.

David Zarifis, director of public safety for the University of Northern Iowa, said McCain staffers requested UNI police assist in escorting out “about four or five” people from the rally prior to McCain’s speech.

Zarifis said while the people who were taken out weren’t protesting or causing problems, McCain’s staff were worried they would during the speech.

“Apparently, they had been identified by those staffers as potential protesters within the event,” Zarifis said. “The facility was rented by the RNC for the McCain campaign, so it’s really a private facility for them. We assisted in their desires to have those people removed.”

Lara Elborno, a student at the University of Iowa, said she was approached by a police officer and a McCain staffer and was told she had to leave or she would be arrested for trespassing.

“It was a very confusing, very frustrating situation,” Elborno said. “I said that I had a right to be there, I wasn’t doing anything disruptive — I was sitting, waiting for the rally to start.”

She said McCain staffers wouldn’t tell her why she was being asked to leave and when she got outside, she saw “a group of about 20 people” who had all been asked to leave.

Elborno said after seeing the people who were asked to leave, she was concerned that McCain’s staffers were profiling people on appearance to determine who might be a potential protester.

“When I started talking to them, it kind of became clear that they were kind of just telling people to leave that they thought maybe would be disruptive, but based on what? Based on how they looked,” Elborno said. “It was pretty much all young people, the college demographic.”

Elborno said even McCain supporters were among those being asked to leave.

“I saw a couple that had been escorted out and they were confused as well, and the girl was crying, so I said ‘Why are you crying? and she said ‘I already voted for McCain, I’m a Republican, and they said we had to leave because we didn’t look right,’” Elborno said. “They were handpicking these people and they had nothing to go off of, besides the way the people looked.”

Elborno said while she has protested at events before, no plans were discussed beforehand for a protest and she shouldn’t have been taken out because she was not causing a disturbance.

“If I had been disruptive, then I would have deserved to be taken out,” Elborno said. “But at the time I was asked to leave, I wasn’t doing anything.”

Elborno said she’s stunned at how the situation was handled, especially McCain’s staffers’ refusal to discuss the matter.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said.

Despite repeated attempts, McCain’s campaign could not be reached for comment.

Pre-emptive Ejection

Why does this not surprise me....
They did nothing, but were ejected anyways...

__________________
"As in a poker game where the chips were concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, the other fellows could stay in the game only by borrowing, when their credit ran out, the game stopped."
--Marriner S. Eccles, FDR's fed Chairman. (1951)

Blech.
I want to correct myself...

OpEdNews » Univ. of Iowa Students Interrupt McCain-Palin Rally

Not only did Lara Elborno do protests in the past, she has helped protest MCCAIN in the past.
The whole "because of our clothes" thing sounds like a farce, not to mention possibly some of her other claims as well...
OpEdNews » Univ. of Iowa Students Interrupt McCain-Palin Rally

It would be more likely that a McCain staffer recognized her as a previous trouble-maker, and had her ejected on that.
As for not talking to her, I don't blame them.

As for talking about arresting people who haven't even protested, I still think that demonstrates something about our POLITICAL "free speech" in this country...

__________________
"As in a poker game where the chips were concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, the other fellows could stay in the game only by borrowing, when their credit ran out, the game stopped."
--Marriner S. Eccles, FDR's fed Chairman. (1951)

Good catch!...

I was about to point this out in the original article...

This works just like casinos throwing out known card counters before they even sit at a table...

__________________
"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Additionally:
No, she did not have a right to be there.

__________________
~
~
~

Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."

Oh...wait. You can't count cards at a casino?? How else are you supposed to win?

__________________
Frugal tip: To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

How to Fold a Shirt

Salty's Blog

Actually counting cards isn't illegal as long as you're working solo and only using your head to keep track. Once you bring someone/something else into the deal, it's a ball-peen hammer to your meta-carpals.

__________________
~
~
~

Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."

We had Sarah Palin here at our local university & a few folks got kicked out. I know one of the folks who got kicked out --- he helped me last year with one of our local youth baseball programs. Nonetheless, he's a big Ron Paul guy & was yelling for Ron Paul when the place got quiet enough for everyone to hear. He was asked to settle down but continued to yell at those quieter moments during the speeches.

I understand wearing a Ron Paul shirt to McCain/Palin rally to make a point. But to be disruptive even after you've been warned just seems like someone asking to be kicked out. However, the folks who were yelling were so few that it wasn't really disruptive. Actually, it seemed kind of sad. They really could have let the people keep yeling as it didn't seem to affect the speeches or any of the speakers.

__________________
http://thecourier.typepad.com/rightonthemark/

"To educate a man in mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society." --- Theodore Roosevelt

Unless you were one of the unlucky people who happened to be standing next to the yellers, then it would have a clear negative effect.

__________________
~
~
~

Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."

"Las Vegas Casino Politics" is similar to "Chicago Thug Politics"

__________________
"Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well. The extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively and without self delusion---In the long run these are the only people that count."Robert Heinlein

Except you get free drinks and salty snacks!

__________________
Frugal tip: To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

How to Fold a Shirt

Salty's Blog