Any time a Florida-related thread is created on FreeRepublic, please be sure to add the "Florida" keyword to it so that interested FReepers don't miss it.
Onward to victory,
Posted on 10/27/2004 7:53:31 AM PDT by Anduril1
Election violence surfaces in South Florida
Published Tuesday, October 26, 2004
by Sean Salai
Election-related violence is on the rise this week in South Florida as impassioned Republicans and Democrats duke it out at rallies and the polls.
Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans and Independents in Palm Beach County, where voters last week began casting early ballots for the Nov. 2 general election, and strained feelings are already leading to hostility. In Boca Raton this weekend, county Republicans filled out police reports for shattered car windows at a Friday rally and a vandalism incident Sunday night at their headquarters.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Jenni Garrison, executive director of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County, said yesterday. “This is our first presidential election since 2000 and people are already nervous and scared about using the new machines. This contentiousness just adds to their anxiety.” Garrison said the nastiness is also evident from Republican volunteers, adding that she hopes both parties will crack down on it.
“I’ve already removed people from polling places for behaving inappropriately and antagonizing Democratic voters,” Garrison said. “We’ve also removed inappropriate signs. We’re not out there to harass the voters and behave like four-year olds. We’re there to support our president.”
Sunday’s incident occurred at the GOP’s Boca headquarters on North Federal Highway between 7 and 11 p.m. The unknown perpetrator tampered with the deadbolt on the office door, locking party workers out of the office when they discovered that their keys no longer worked.
“The brown shirts have arrived and they’re all Democrats,” said Sid Dinerstein, county GOP chairman. Also on Sunday night, a student leading a Republican protest at Florida Atlantic University saw her Ford Explorer vandalized by Democrats attending a John Kerry rally. University police responded to the incident and eventually broke it up.
“Some people surrounded us and started yelling obscenities and racist comments at me,” said Dana Roberts, FAU College Republican chairwoman. “I’m African-American and they were yelling that I’ve sided with the Ku Klux Klan. There were people telling them to stop, but they poured beer on the car and vandalized it with Kerry bumper stickers.”
Between 5 and 7 p.m. Friday, an unknown Kerry supporter drove by a GOP rally near a K-Mart on Palmetto Park Road and threw rocks and sand at rally-goers. Several car windows were broken. “I was singled out as the leader and had rocks thrown in my face,” said Jack Furnari, president of the Boca Raton Republicans.
Sources at Boca PD yesterday confirmed the two police reports, but declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office (PBSO) said there have been no arrests at polling places patrolled by her department. “We do have a law enforcement presence at polling places in our jurisdiction,” said Commander Diane Carhart, Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman. “No election-related crime has been reported to my knowledge.” Florida, along with Ohio and Pennsylvania, is one of three states where the presidential election is still a statistical dead heat between George W. Bush and John Kerry.
The Republican and Democratic candidates for president in recent weeks have joined party leaders for a multi-million dollar storm of negative campaigning and advertising throughout the state. Bush and Kerry, at rallies designed to motivate their party faithful, have accused each other of trying to scare the electorate in the same breath they relentlessly attack one another as radicals who very frighteningly don’t represent mainstream American values. “This is the big week,” said state Rep. Adam Hasner, a Republican representing South Palm Beach County. “Everyone’s a little bit on edge.”
Copyright 2004 - Boca Raton News ©1998-2002 The Boca Raton News
________________Anduril1
Party of Peace, aye.
I;ve stated so before on FRep, I'll say it again, and I still believe it, we are in the beginning of a civil war.
Democrats the party of love.
Any time a Florida-related thread is created on FreeRepublic, please be sure to add the "Florida" keyword to it so that interested FReepers don't miss it.
Onward to victory,
"Garrison said the nastiness is also evident from Republican volunteers, adding that she hopes both parties will crack down on it. "
And yet, every instance in this article shows democrats attacking republicans.
Not one incident of Republicans attacking Dems.
"“We do have a law enforcement presence at polling places in our jurisdiction,” said Commander Diane Carhart, Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman. “No election-related crime has been reported to my knowledge.” "
The real reason? "Because it's Democrats attacking Republicans. But, believe me, if it turns the other way around, we will be on it."
The 'rats are going to lose and they are now baring their fangs like vampires about to be dragged into the kight of day...
Kerry Brownshirts!
The "party of love"? Sounds more like the party of dirtbags and thugs. May the police use their "counseling tools" (riot batons) liberally and often!
We conservatives are dividing the nation by not cowing to the liberal hate mongering. ; )
I don't doubt it.
I agree absolutely. I heard on one of the talk radio shows yesterday that Dims simply expect about 5% or so of their votes to come from fraudelent soruces. It's something they factor into their analysis, for pete's sake. Tell you what, though, if voter fraud puts Kerry in the White House, I do believe that, while perhaps the majority will be unrespeonsive, the beginnings of an internal conflict will emerge. And it will only grow as undeniable evidence of the fraud emerges.
Course, I hope I'm wrong :)
"I;ve stated so before on FRep, I'll say it again, and I still believe it, we are in the beginning of a civil war."
I'll believe it when I see the Republicans start shooting back at the Democrats, like they've already been doing to the Republicans. I'm not sure the Republicans have the stomach for it. The Democrats have been allowed to pollute and undermine this country for seventy years. Why expect the Republicans to do anything about it now? The horse is already out of the barn.
I wish they would break my car windows and give me an excuse to kick their a*s since the police seem to be doing nothing.
Mistaken headline, based on a misleading opening that puts Democrats and Republicans on a par.
It's not "election violence," it's "Democrat violence." It shouldn't be necessary to read below the fold to discover that.
bringyourcamera.com makes no distinctions or comparisons about who's threatening whom (although ALL the stories are about Dems), but it is a pretty comprehensive outlet for the news on fraud and violence.
Oh, and bring your camera to the polls.
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