from LA Times: Protesters Mar Gore Campaign Stop

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

distributed as a fair use

Friday, June 18, 1999
Home Edition
Section: PART A
Page: A-10

Protesters Mar Gore Campaign Stop;
Politics: Four AIDS activists crowd him on stage. Secret Service
cites lack of 'direct physical
threat' in decision to not intervene sooner.;

By: RONALD BROWNSTEIN
TIMES POLITICAL WRITER


The second day of Vice President Al Gore's presidential
announcement tour was marred here Thursday by four protesters
who suddenly crowded in on him and disrupted his speech while
local police and the Secret Service initially decided not to
intervene.

Network television tapes reviewed after the incident showed the
protesters taunting Gore from close range for 40 seconds before
the first Secret Service agent moved toward them. Almost 20
seconds after that, police officers escorted the group from the
stage.

Chris Lehane, Gore's spokesman, said the Secret Service informed
him they did not act sooner because in their judgment the
protesters, a group of AIDS activists upset by administration
policies, did not "present any direct physical threat" to the
vice president.

Jim Mackin, spokesman for the Secret Service in Washington, said
he could not comment on the specific incident. But he said: "We
are always concerned about the safety of the vice president
and Mrs. Gore. But at the same time, there are other issues we
have to be conscious of . . . in terms of freedom of speech."

Marla Romash, Gore's deputy campaign chairwoman, said the vice
president's aides did not consider Gore to be in danger. "I trust
the Secret Service with my life and know they are professionals.
If they assess a threat to be serious, they move with lightning
speed. They are just not in the habit of jumping people with
banners--and rightfully so."

During the incident, Gore three times said the same thing to the
protesters--"I'll be glad to talk with you afterwards"--though he
appeared uncertain how to react as the group lingered behind
him. Sitting just in front of the demonstrators, his wife, Tipper
Gore, who has published a book of photographs, whipped out a
camera and snapped pictures of the commotion.

The protesters represented a group called AIDS Drugs for Africa,
which includes members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, or
ACT UP. Protesters from the group also blew whistles
and disrupted Gore's announcement in Carthage, Tenn., on
Wednesday. Thursday afternoon, they appeared at a Gore rally on
Wall Street. But in neither case did they get near the candidate.

By contrast, Thursday morning, three women, soon joined by a man,
leaped up from seats arrayed behind Gore at a town hall-style
event and, after getting as close as 2 feet from him, began
blowing whistles and chanting: "Gore's greed kills! AIDS drugs
for Africa!" They also unfurled a banner with that message.

The group claims the administration is trying to protect the
profits of U.S. pharmaceutical companies by threatening trade
sanctions against African nations that produce low-cost generic
versions of patented drugs used to treat AIDS. Gore aides dispute
the group's claims.

Law enforcement officials appeared to act only after a group of
yellow-shirted firefighter union members in the audience rose
from their seats and moved toward the stage to confront the
demonstrators.

Some in the audience were unnerved by the protesters' ability to
move so close to Gore and remain so near him without being
challenged. "It was frightening, frightening," said Cindy
Klerman, of Bedford, N.H.

Dick Crotty, one of the firefighters who rose in response to the
event, said: "I was surprised nobody moved."

One spokesman for the protesting group said Gore can expect more
encounters in the months ahead. "We are planning actions
throughout the campaign," Julie Davids said in a telephone
interview.


PHOTO: (A2) Big Man on Campus--Vice President Al Gore's tour was
marred in Manchester, N.H. by four protesters who crowded in on
him. Left, Gore addresses audience while wife Tipper snaps a
photo at Manchester college.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Associated Press

Descriptors: GORE, ALBERT JR; DEMOCRATIC PARTY; PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS -- 2000; PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES -- SECURITY; POLITICAL
CAMPAIGNS; DEMONSTRATIONS -- NEW HAMPSHIRE;










-- 
James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology
I can be reached at love@cptech.org, by telephone 202.387.8030,
by fax at 202.234.5176. CPT web page is http://www.cptech.org