Posted on 03/04/2011 5:14:16 AM PST by Loyal Buckeye
The volatility surrounding the collective-bargaining debate spilled into the night Wednesday when police were called to a German Village restaurant after a group verbally accosted a gathering of Senate Republicans.
After the vote on Senate Bill 5, seven Republican senators, including President Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond, grabbed dinner at the Easy Street Cafe. As the lawmakers neared the end of their meal, a group of five to 10 union supporters angry about the passage of the bill hours before burst into the restaurant and began shouting.
The commotion eventually led to pushing and shoving with the restaurant staff and owner, before police arrived to calm the situation as a police helicopter hovered overhead. No senators were involved in the physical altercations, and no charges have been filed.
"It could have (gotten physical)," said Sen. Frank LaRose, 31, a Fairlawn Republican who served as a Green Beret. "The group was agitated and they were shoving the owner, and he had nothing to do with this."
LaRose said it didn't take special intelligence training to notice that while the lawmakers were eating, a woman walked past the window several times, poked her head in the door and got on her cell phone.
"It was planned," LaRose said. "They gathered as a group and waited until they had about 10 people before they caused a disturbance."
When the group burst into the restaurant, the woman, Monica Moran, deputy director of public affairs for SEIU District 1199, raised her hands in the air, yelled "Can I have your attention?" and then shouted "something nasty," LaRose said. Soon after, the rest of the group of men and women joined in with a chant.
"They stormed through my dining room," said George Stefanidis, owner of the Easy Street Cafe. "I told them they had to leave, and they wouldn't."
Stefanidis said he called 911 when the protesters refused to leave. LaRose said there was pushing and shoving with the restaurant staff. Meanwhile, someone on the outside slapped an anti-Senate Bill 5 sign on the window near where Niehaus was sitting.
"I understand their argument, but they should do that some other place," Stefanidis said. "It just ruined the whole night."
He said about 70 people were in the restaurant, at 197 Thurman Ave., at the time.
Witnesses said Stefanidis and his staff held the group back from the senators.
"I was tempted to help, but us getting involved would have escalated it, not de-escalated it. We decided to stay quiet," LaRose said.
Moran, who is married to a top researcher at the Ohio Republican Party, was unapologetic.
"It is unfortunate that rather than focus on the adverse impact that this legislation will have on hard-working, middle-class Ohioans, there are those who would choose to focus on a conversation I had with Senate Republicans," she said in a written statement to The Dispatch.
"The moment of discomfort Senate Republicans may have felt as a result of my expressing my opinion pales in comparison to the extreme discomfort and financial hardships that public employees will endure as a result of SB5."
Sens. Kevin Bacon of Minerva Park, Keith Faber of Celina, Larry Obhof Jr. of Montville Township, Chris Widener of Springfield and Gayle Manning of North Ridgeville also were at the restaurant. All but Manning voted in favor of Senate Bill 5.
The decision to charge with trespassing is up to the DA, although the property owner usually has to agree to proceeding with the charge. I think the owner has the right to obtain restraining orders forbidding any of the people who disrupted the place, from returning. I'd do at least that. Separate from obtaining a restraining order, he can certainly sue them for loss of revenue. Damages aren't much, probably, but defending the suit is a thorn in the side of the juvenile-acting disruptors.
I found it interesting that the instigating woman, Moran, is married to "a top researcher at the Ohio Republican Party."
"The group was agitated and they were shoving the owner...
They laid hands upon the owner. Why the heck weren't some kind of charges filed?
a bunch of commie wussies
Because the cops are union too.
A similar team of thugs attacked and severely injured the FReeper Physicist in Philadelphia who was protesting the presence of Bubba. The signal to attack was given by a high teamsters union official.
It would seem that part of organizing is the union proclivity to develop intimidation teams that use not only disruption but escalate it to physical violence on command.
We will see the commands given for violence as the summer comes and the situation heats up.
It is best to steer clear of all the union dominated sewers that are the large American cities.
Too bad they were not eating with a few Marines.
The DA's not.
True, but no DA can press charges if he doesn't have adequate information from the police with regards to what happened. If the cops didn't arrest anyone, make any reports, take down notes, etc. then there's nothing for the DA to work with.
Unions will always protect their own. That's why nearly all unions can get away with committing as many acts of violence as they damn well please. They know the cops have their backs.
Mike
FWIW, that can and does happen, especially if there's a question about LE's conduct during an investigation. The DA's office can conduct its own investigation.
And if local PDs are going to be aiding and abetting thuggery, and the DOJ is going to allow that, then God help the nation.
And a note to LE: Time to ask yourselves why you wear a badge.
I hope that happens here too, but I am not optimistic. I guess I just spent too many of my formative years seeing union violence go completely unpunished to really have any faith in the system anymore.
It’s time for good citizens that aren’t communist union thugs, to stand up and take action. I’d have been more than happy to knock a few union heads together. They understand two things - the gang mentality, and pain. And I’d be glad to show them pain.
MSNBC is openly mocking and laughing about Republicans all day.
Does Microsoft condone this?
I can buy other products
After being asked to leave, it became criminal tresspass. Pushing and shoving is assualt and intimidation. This was all done with criminal intent to cause a disruption, commotion and with intent to intimidate and terrorize lawfully elected officials.
This demonstrates why it is dangerous for both the government and unions to even have unions in the public sector. Unions cannot treat the lawful government with intent to disrupt the state constitutional processes. And that is exactly what the unions are suckering their membership into.
Your union leaders are playing a very dangerous game with you.
Wiki has this to say about such behavior:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent (or resistance) to lawful authority. Sedition may include any commotion, though not aimed at direct and open violence against the laws. Seditious words in writing are seditious libel. A seditionist is one who engages in or promotes the interests of sedition.
The union members need to carefully pull-back and consider their tactics in a legal sense, because if it continues...
What's the difference between a "Flying Squad" and a "flashmob"? Either way it was a planned, organized and coordinated assault.
“Look for the union label”...or we’ll bust your kneecaps.
That was Don Adams; Physicist merely provided updates on the case.
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