“We Won’t Sit Down! – We Won’t Shut Up!
Exxon Got Paid Off – Teachers Got Laid Off!
Greetings From Asbury Park!
As a plane flew overhead towing a sign over the beach that said “Chris Christie Makes Us Sick“, what looked to be a couple hundred protesters crashed Governor Christie’s fundraiser today at the old Asbury Park Convention Hall – Greetings from Asbury Park! (the Asbury Park Press has a good photo gallery).
The crowd was composed mostly of teachers, but there were other labor, Sandy recovery, and environmental groups represented as well.
Although the police tried their best to isolate the protesters from the attendees, the Republican suits who write the checks and attended the event had to walk through a gauntlet of chanting protesters well equipped with clever signs (the teachers make the best signs!).
The police initially tried to barricade the crowd across the street from the Convention Hall. But a small group had assembled on the Boardwalk at the entrance to the Hall. The group behind the barricades then moved to join their colleagues on the boardwalk.
Police security became somewhat agitated by this move, but the protesters remained outside the Hall walking a line. The police formed a line in front of the entrance to the Hall and blocked entrance by protesters.
protesters ignore police
But then, as police tried to block protesters from entering the Hall – with a little encouragement from yours truly, who was chanting “Take the public space” – “Don’t Comply with illegal police orders” – – the crowd surged and began pouring into the Convention Hall!
That clearly upset the Christie security people, as now their donors had to go face to face with the protesters, who refused to be cordoned off into some distant designated protest zone (like at the Lockdown at Livingston).
But, it wasn’t long before the cops regrouped, gathered reinforcements and not only ejected the protesters from the convention hall, but drove them off the boardwalk and the entrance to the Hall and back to the original starting point behind the barricades, out of the face of the Christie Crowd and safely across the street from the Hall.
When I objected to this move and encouraged the crowd to return to public space, a group of cops surrounded and threatened to arrest me for – this is a quote – “agitating the crowd”!
Shortly after, for no reason at all, I was again surrounded by police and threatened with arrest. I was not agitating the crowd, but merely standing on public property outdoors by the entrance to the hall that they were trying to keep clear so Christie Crowd could have a free path to the entrance.
I stood my ground and would not be intimidated or moved. The cops backed down.
I spoke with several cops – including supervisors – all of whom had zero understanding or respect for any constitutional rights of protest, free speech, free press, or assembly. Amazing.
The highlight of the protest came at about 6:45, when a group of protesters must have spotted Christie sneaking in the back entrance and rapidly formed a large group who loudly booed, and then chanted: “We won’t sit down – we won’t shut up!
