Our convention minders, Betsy and Megan, have done a great job of getting us in on interesting events and lining up interviews, and Radio Row has been a beehive of activity. Today, though, I want to get out of the Garden and into the streets to see and report on what is going on with the protests.
I’m not sure what is being reported about the demonstrations nationally, but a number of scary incidents have taken place. One individual, a junior at Yale, signed up as a convention volunteer, and bided his time until he found himself within a few feet of Vice-President Cheney. The Yale Daily News reports on what happened next:
U.S. Secret Service agents arrested Thomas Frampton ’06 Monday evening at the Republican National Convention, after he allegedly tried to climb into the seating area for Vice President Dick Cheney and assaulted an agent.
Frampton — one of the most visible liberal activists on campus — got within 10 feet of Cheney, shouting anti-Bush administration statements, according to a complaint lodged by the Secret Service. Frampton was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed when he resisted the agents’ efforts to restrain him, the complaint said.
This morning, Andy Card was giving a speech on the main convention floor to the Youth Convention, consisting of Young Republicans, etc. The group was infiltrated by demonstrators who had apparently procured credentials. A witness recounts what happened here.
In another incident Monday night, a policeman was seriously injured when he was knocked from his motorcycle by a group of Communist demonstrators, and then kicked and stomped. He was rescued before they could kill him, but he was hospitalized in serious condition with a head injury.
Security here seems about as tight as it can reasonably be, but it is far from foolproof. If a college student and a bunch of Democratic imposters can crash the Garden and get close to elected officials, I assume that terrorists could too.
BIG TRUNK adds: Little Trunk reports that Frampton is back at school today. According to one of her classmates, Frampton was released on $50,000 bond posted by his wealthy lawyer father.
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