Florida Radio Host Nicole Sandler was arrested last night. The charge was Trespass after Warning. What was the actual charge? Asking her Congressman a follow-up question to a blatant lie regarding their Medicare privatization plan. Video and other details below the fold.
My title refers to a "Town Hall". The reason for the quotations indicate that only some folks would consider this a Town Hall. Reports indicate that the questions were hand picked by staffers ready-made with GOP talking points.
Nicole Sandler herself, via Digby:
It figures, my blog is the last place you’ll read about my arrest and subsequent incarceration after attending Allen West’s so-called Town Hall Meeting last night.
Since I spent last night in jail and, thanks to the sickeningly awful people at the Broward County Jail was subjected to three hours in solitary confinement in a 7×10 room, and then maced. Nice, huh?
Anyway, I’ll have more on how it all unfolded on the show tomorrow, and then in a lengthier written piece after I get some rest, food and a shower.
But I do want to clear something up. The video that’s floating around portraying me as a heckler doesn’t show the Medicare question that Mr. West was asked, the way he answered it, and my FOLLOW-UP question.
So, here’s how it actually happened:
Being arrested for speaking your mind at a political event is not unprecedented. I would guess that it's happened to a few of you. (It's not common to maced while in custody --- but I can't say I'm surprised that it happened to a female liberal talk show host. That's just how the authoritarians roll.)
I'm also listening to her radio show. Following this video, she was physically assaulted by an officer, pushing her away from the "Town Hall". She was then informed that she was under arrest. All that was said was that she was under arrest for Trespass After Warning, and an audio recording of the incident quotes the police officer: "You don't have a say-so right now".
She reports that she was not read her Miranda Rights, and spent the night in Jail, in solitary confinement. During her night in jail, she was reportedley MACED.
I don't need to tell all of you that these actions are despicable. Not only are GOP congressman censoring questions that are being asked by constituents, but when met with any opposition, this is the treatment that she gets.
She reports that, even in the back of the police car, while Allen West is posing for pictures with the officers next to the car, she is still asking "Congressman, can I please ask you a question?"
Nicole Sandler, you are my hero today. I wish you the best of luck resolving this matter, and bringing to light the injustices of our democratic processes.
UPDATE: I would like to thank all of the folks recommending my diary, this is a serious issue, and hopefully in due time the local FL media won’t be the only outlets covering this atrocity. I also want to thank mofembot, louisev, and others for catching some of the spelling/grammatical errors that were created in my haste.
What we do know is that Nicole Sandler intends to pursue a lawsuit related to this matter. If you would like to help her with a legal fund, the donation page can be found here (thanks to Spedwybabs, who provided me the link and is following this story as well).
UPDATE 2: Video clip from Cenk on MSNBC (includes video of the arrest and interview with Nicole Sandler)
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