Posted on 08/27/2002 5:08:27 AM PDT by MindBender26
Book: Hillary Used 'Etiquette Squads' to Bust Up Protests
A former advance man for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has confessed that her campaign used "etiquette squads" to drive hecklers away at rallies, raising new questions about a March 2000 incident where several reporters were assaulted while trying to cover then-candidate Clinton as crowds booed her during the St. Patrick's Day parade.
Patrick Halley's new book, "On the Road with Hillary," is a largely favorable portrait of the White House hopeful, seen through the eyes of the man whose job from 1992 to 2000 was to make sure Mrs. Clinton was viewed in the best light possible.
That meant that the Boston native was in charge of picking the right TV-friendly settings, the right props and the right photo-ops, according to an account of his book in Sunday's Boston Herald, which also noted:
"Things usually didn't get that dramatic for Halley, though he did help set up so-called 'etiquette squads' to help drive disrupters away from rallies."
During her 2000 bid for the Senate, Mrs. Clinton's campaign became notorious for the heavy-handed way it kept her shielded from reporters and protesters alike.
One particularly ugly altercation took place as she marched in New York City's St. Patrick's Day parade, where she was greeted by block after block of booing throngs.
As Mrs. Clinton pushed through the heckling crowd surrounded by her security and a phalanx of reporters, suddenly violence erupted. The scene was described during a live WABC radio report by Metro Network News reporter Glenn Schuck, who assumed that Secret Service were responsible for the thug-like tactics:
"Secret Service agents literally are pushing press to the ground. They just lost their minds, in my opinion," he told WABC's Sean Hannity.
"I mean they just started pushing and shoving; female camera people five feet tall were getting thrown to the ground, cameras flying. Myself, I was grabbed by the shoulder, I was thrown back over. I think somebody from Channel 11 landed on my back. From that point it really didn't get any better." (See: Hillary's Secret Service Agents Rough Up Reporters as St. Pat's Crowd Boos)
A few days later, a caller to WOR Radio's Bob Grant Show reported that she and her family were also accosted by Clinton's protest-busters along the parade route.
"Maureen" said that after her family had joined the crowd in jeering Mrs. Clinton, "they were surrounded by men in trench coats with radios." They told Maureen that since Mrs. Clinton was first lady that they "did not have the right" to heckle, she told Grant. "We think you should stop this now," the Clinton handlers ordered.
Were these incidents - and dozens of other similarly heavy-handed encounters with Hillary's handlers - the work of not the Secret Servicebut instead Clinton's protest-busting "etiquette squads"?
Author Halley could not be reached by press time to respond to that question.
Must have made eye contact with shrillary....lucky you didn't get turned into stone
Well, there's New York City. But she does get booed here too. I've got a sound file from the "Concert for New York" to prove it. :D
I would not be one bit suprised if it were revealed that she gained her senate seat through the typical Democrat vote fraud machine.
Had similar thoughts myself. In one way, I'd be thrilled if that's what actually happened; I'm TIRED of getting the blame for "Senator Hillary".
"Ha! We DIDN'T vote for her, see?!"
Might as well place it on the $1 sale table early. A definite "must not have".
I live in Central New York and the majority of signs I saw were for Lazio, not Clinton,Driving from Cleveland to Rochester just before the election we saw numerous Lazio signs and bumper stickers, and precisely one Hildebeast sign, which appeared to have been egged.
-Eric
I'm sure glad someone saved that. We certainly won't hear that tape anywhere else!
And if Ken Starr, et al had done their jobs, she'd be BACK upstate -- at some federal camp.
The ultimate euphemism!
Going to the original source is always a good idea.
There is justice in this life if the shrew and her pathetic husband continue to torment one another.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.