And Some Wonder Why Newspapers Are Dying?

The South Florida Sun Sentinel shows their anti-Democrat bias on a daily basis.  I know first-hand based on their coverage of my arrest after attending what was billed as a “town hall meeting” by my congressman, and attempting to ask a question clarifying his positions on the Republican-Paul Ryan plan to kill Medicaid.

They refer to me as a “heckler” and someone “trying to score political points” when I actually attended as a constituent concerned over how my congressional representing was “representing” me.

In today’s paper, I’m referred to in the headline as a “protester”.  Although  I have and will protest things I consider wrong, on the evening of April 26, 2011, I was ejected from a town hall meeting after attempting to ask a question; I was apparently arrested for telling the police officer to get his hand off of me twice.

I told you yesterday that the prosecutor has declined to prosecute the case.  Today, the South Florida Sun Sentinel has this piece running:

Protester arrested at Congressman Allen West’s town hall won’t be prosecuted

By Anthony ManMay 27, 2011 08:32 AM

Nicole Sandler, who was arrested at Congressman Allen West’s April 26 town hall meeting, won’t be prosecuted.

City prosecutor Scott Walker couldn’t be reached for comment despite two telephone messages. But a notice he filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office said the city “declines to prosecute.”

Read the document.

And Sandler’s attorney, Barry Butin of the Broward County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said Walker confirmed the decision to him.

The arrest occurred after Sandler, of Coral Springs, interrupted West while he was explaining the Republican position on Medicare. She shouted a question, which prompted responses from other audience members: “Shut up lady.” She didn’t.

Sandler’s mug shot/Broward Sheriff’s Office

As people recorded the scene with their camera phones, she was escorted out by a Fort Lauderdale police officer.

Sandler objected to being asked to leave, arguing with the officer as he escorted her out, including emphatically cursing at him. Ultimately he arrested her for “trespass after warning.”

Read the police report.

West’s town hall took place at a time when there was concerted effort from Democrats, union members and liberal political activists to give Republican members of Congress a dose of the town hall trouble that Democratic members of Congress experienced in 2009 at the hands of tea party members and opponents of overhauling the health care system.

In order to ask questions at the town hall at Calvary Chapel in Fort Lauderdale, people were asked to fill out cards. But several people shouted out questions.

One was Sandler, who used to be a host on the now defunct Air America liberal radio network. She now hosts a daily online show, serves as the regular substitute host on the national radio show hosted by Randi Rhodes, and does voice-over work.

As for the police officer’s contention that Sandler “became physically aggressive” she said that’s not true. “I didn’t touch him. I didn’t get physically aggressive at him. The worst I did was I cursed at him. I said a bad word to him,” she said. “I know I didn’t break any law. I did nothing illegal.”

The American Civil Liberties Union was prepared to defend Sandler if authorities decided to prosecute.

“We felt that you shouldn’t be punished for speech. Speech is not a crime. And it was dealt with wrongly by the police,” Butin said. “You

[the police] guide them outside and ask them to leave…. She was walking out when they asked her to walk. She may have not been walking out at a breakneck pace, but she was walking out.”

Sandler said she “probably will” sue the city for her arrest. “I’m exploring all the options now,” she said.

Butin, co-chairman of the legal panel for the Broward ACLU chapter, said he’s not a civil attorney, but thinks Sandler has a legitimate claim for her arrest and the time she spent at the Broward County Jail.

“You spend 18 hours in jail for what they really could have given her a summons [for],” he said. “That could be false imprisonment, emotional distress.”

Background: Coverage of West’s town hall

Sandler said she did nothing wrong at the West event.

“All I know is I went to something that was advertised at a town hall meeting. I heard what my congressman has to say. I he’s truly representing the people of his district he needs to hear what the people have to say,” she said. “All I tried to do is to talk to him. And for that I got ejected. I wanted him to hear what I had to say and I wanted him to answer the question, not just give talking points.“I wasn’t trying to disrupt anything. I raised my hand…. When all he did was give his talking points about Medicare, and say that voting for the [Congressman Paul] Ryan plan would preserve it for future generations, I wanted him to clarify that.

“The question that I was trying to ask was how does privatizing Medicare preserve it? How does adding a profit motive make it more efficient? Because we know it doesn’t and the main question that I really wanted an answer to is I wanted a name and the contact information for an insurance company that will write a policy to a 75-year- old with high blood pressure, diabetes and high blood pressure. Because it doesn’t exist.

“If he’s truly going to represent the people of his district, he needs to hear from them. But what he has chosen to do at these events that he is still calling town hall meetings is to give a lecture,” Sandler said.

Feel free to log on to the site and leave a comment… That sorry excuse for a newspaper has only printed letters to the editor critical of me and hailing Allen West as the right’s biggest hero.