Allen West Event Crashed By Protesters, Beer-Throwing Ensues
WASHINGTON -- Police had to intervene at a Wednesday night campaign event for Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) after protesters unfurled a giant banner trashing West and attendees retaliated by throwing beer, ice cubes and even a salt shaker.
West was minutes into his speech outside of Pirate's Cove hotel in Port Salerno, Fla., when a handful of protesters came out onto a balcony above the event and began shouting, TCPalm reported Thursday. The protesters, who were with a group called Stand-Up Florida and who specifically rented out a hotel room to crash West's event, rolled out a banner that read, "Allen West is out of touch, Allen West is out of office."
From there, the event devolved into disarray. Andrew Mina, a field director for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign who was in attendance, yanked the banner down as West supporters booed and threw "water, ice cubes, beer and a couple of middle fingers" toward the balcony, the newspaper reported. Meanwhile, the protesters used a megaphone to shout criticisms of West's economic record and play an audio reel of controversial comments made by West in the past.
At one point, an elderly West supporter attempted to throw a glass salt shaker up at the protesters. But he "could only throw it a few feet before it shattered on the ground," according to TCPalm. Throughout the minutes-long exchange, West "quietly stood in the corner with his campaign team."
More on this fiasco at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/27/allen-west-protesters_n_1920560.html?utm_hp_ref=miami&ir=Miami
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