Tampa health care reform town hall turns into a near-riot, national spectacle (video)
August 7, 2009 at 6:35 am by Wayne Garcia
The summer recess of Congress has sent politicians back home into their districts and straight into the guerilla theater that has overcome reasonable discussion about how to reform the nation’s broken health care system.
Witness: Hundreds of angry conservatives and anti-Obamacare people (a few violent) turned up at a town hall organized by state Rep. Betty Reed in Ybor City last night with one mission in mind — some with one mission in mind: disrupt the forum and get headlines.
They succeeded.
Driven by right-wing media nutz such as Rush Limbaugh (who mentioned Kathy Castor’ appearance at the forum during his Thursday radio show, bemoaning that she would be surrounded by “union goons”), the state and local GOP and Glenn Beck’s 9-12 movement, the anti-Obama crowd banged on windows and doors in an attempt to get into the overcrowded Children’s Board meeting room.
10 Connects reported:
As people were asked to leave, several screaming matches erupted between participants. One man’s shirt was even ripped open.
So let’s spread the blame around: Rep. Reed admitted she should have gone for a larger venue to accommodate what she knew was a growing crowd. The SEIU union admitted it reserved a number of chairs for its members inside, while opponents and supporters alike stood outside and were denied admission.
TBO.com reported:
Democrats, including White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, have said the disruptions were organized attacks aimed at Democrats by conservative, anti-health care reform interest groups. Protesters at Thursday’s meeting in Tampa angrily rejected that contention.
One man whose shirt was ripped when he tried to force his way into the meeting said afterward he was assaulted by union members:
