The First Amendment? Not at an Obama Rally

As I posted earlier, I was with the Michigan State College Republicans rallying outside the Obama rally. We held signs, wore shirts, and handed out stickers to show our support for John McCain.

Unfortunately the handing out stickers didn’t sit well with the Obama campaign.

Here’s the story.

I was standing around with my sign, when all of a sudden an Obama volunteer walked up to our group and told us that people wearing McCain shirts or stickers were being denied entry to the rally. Perplexed by this massive disregard for the first amendment I asked the volunteer to repeat what she had said, she clearly stated that those wearing anything McCain were not being let in, and that if anyone inside was found to be wearing anything McCain they would escorted out.

To make sure they weren’t pulling our leg, someone from our group attempted to enter the rally with a McCain sticker prominently displayed on his shirt. He was turned away.

The volunteer that originally brought this to our attention stood next to the people that were handing out stickers and warned those accepting stickers that they would not be allowed in with anything John McCain (video below).

As I was standing there trying to comprehend how this was at all constitutional, a girl walked up to our group. According to her, she had attempted to enter the event with her McCain sticker but was turned away. She said she had called her father, who is a lawyer, and he said it was her first amendment right to wear the sticker into the event. We encouraged her to attempt to go back in.

About ten minutes later she returned in tears. According to her, the security at the event forcefully kept her from entering the rally. She said the secret service claimed it was her right to enter, yet the Obama people would not let her in. Meanwhile the Obama volunteer continued to warn McCain supporters that if they were showing their support for McCain, they’d be denied entry.

The girl who was denied entry was not finished. Another ten minutes past and she came back with two police officers. They said that anyone denied entry into the event should come with them and they would see to it that they gained entry. It took the East Lansing police to prove to the Obama campaign that they couldn’t turn away people based on political support! Even the secret service fell on deaf ears.

It was a disgusting disregard for the first amendment. However, it’s important to understand the event was held on public property. It took place on a field in the middle of campus known as Adams Field. Michigan State University is a public university, they own the field, therefore it’s public land. And this isn’t a gated field, it’s a field with sidewalks running through it; it’s more of an open patch of grass than a field.

The Obama campaign treated their rally like their own country, with their own rules, where they could censor anyone they so pleased. The fact is, the land the event was held on is public, therefore they cannot deny anyone their first amendment right. Everyone has a right to enter that rally with any political message displayed. To think otherwise is ridiculous.

–jb

4 Comments