Santorum’s People Toss Young Women out of Barnes & Noble, Trooper Threaten

[Judi Lynn]

Published on Saturday, August 20, 2005 by The Progressive

Santorum’s People Toss Young Women out of Barnes & Noble, Trooper Threatens Them with Prison
by Matthew Rothschild

On the evening of August 10, Hannah Shaffer of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, decided to go to the nearby Barnes & Noble outside of Wilmington. She wanted to see Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who was promoting his book, “It Takes a Family.”

The event was billed as a “book signing and discussion,” Shaffer says.

But discussion was the last thing that the Senator’s people wanted.

Shaffer, her friends, and two other young women were booted out of the store and threatened with imprisonment even before they had a chance to say a word to Santorum, as Al Mascitti first noted in the Delaware News Journal.
(snip/...)

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0820-20.htm

[rodeodance]

1. “This is trickle down from Bush:'--yes,

Drew Fennell, executive director of the Delaware ACLU, sees the incident in a larger context. “This is trickle down from Bush: Politicians are now keeping away, out of sight, anybody who disagrees with them,” she says. “If the Senator’s staff was so put off by the idea he might be asked a difficult question that they brought in the police, that’s a sad commentary on the state of political discourse. ”

[okieinpain]

2. ok, maybe a ban of barnes and noble is needed.

[mcscajun]

17. I wouldn't be rushing to boycott B&N over this incident...

...first of all, they are a blue company.

Second, if you read one of the stories, this is more about Santorum's people and the shady business of using Delaware State Troopers as private security guards, and one such Trooper overstepping his authority and his role.

excerpt from the story:

Aviola says it is not uncommon for Delaware state troopers, in their official capacity, to work for private contractors, who later reimburse the state.

(snip)

When I contacted the Wilmington Barnes & Noble store and asked for a manager, someone named Pam came on the phone, said “No Comment,” wouldn’t give her last name, and hung up.

At Barnes & Noble’s headquarters, Mary Ellen Keating, senior vice president for corporate communications and public affairs, gave this account.

“I spoke to the assistant manager, and what she told me was that the store management was not consulted on how the situation was managed,” she says. “A state policeman, without consulting management, removed these students from the store.”

=============================
It's certainly worth writing to your local B&N and copying the Corporate HQ with your concerns, but boycott is a big leap for a company that's generally on our side.

[redirish28]

3. does this really surprise you?

Santorum is a lying thug,a crinimal and what does he know about "family" or "family value"? nothing.

[KoKo]

4. Incredible....and that this "State Trooper" is a Private Contractor makes

it all the worse. I had no idea our states are now using Private Contractors who have no loyalty to the State Government they supposedly serve. Chilling.

I hope ACLU goes after them. Who called the State Trooper, anyway? The store or one of Santorum's hacks who was there to drool over his book?

[rodeodance]

6. pure abuse of power (man in uniform)----and bullying.

......Galperin and Rocek decided to stay.

“That’s it,” he told them, according to Galperin. “You’re under arrest. Give me your ID. You’re going to prison.”

Sgt. DiJiacomo led the two out to his police car.

“You’re going to embarrass your families,” he told them, she recalls. “Your names are going to be all over the paper.”

[Mythsaje]

8. Depending on how pissed I was

I would've probably looked at him and said "prison? Did you donate your brain to science? I haven't broken any laws...the best you can do is throw me in lockup until I can get released on my O-R. Then I'll sue your ass for wrongful arrest."

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. the noose is getting tighter

Bush bars any opposing voices from his meetings
Santorum is following his lead.

It is not too far from the truth to state that the sky is falling.

[nuxvomica]

7. Alright, that trooper should be fired

This is official harassment and abuse of authority, plain and simple. :mad:

[snippy]

9. Just as Karl Rove says: "It's like being at a Nazi rally." n/t

[princehal]

10. I think

Thae letters to barns and noble might be in order

[October]

19. He said that?!?!

That's the first I've seen that quote. OMG.

[MH1]

11. This should be used in a campaign ad.

"Santorum's idea of what America stands for"

[OneBlueSky]

12. welcome to Nazi America . . . n/t

.

[Son of California]

13. Republicans politicians are afraid to discuss anything...

they know their bullshit can withstand only so much scrutiny.

[Talismom]

14. Just a question, based on this story...

Is a store like B&N private property such that someone can decide that they don't want you there--though you haven't done anything illegal--and order you out under penalty of law? Or is it a public place?

This story is very frightening and important to post. Thanks for doing so.

[Romberry]

16. B&N is private property. If the management tells you...

...that you have to leave, then you either leave or stand your ground to make your point. Leaders stand their ground. Whiners leave.

[KTM]

21. Management didn't

“I spoke to the assistant manager, and what she told me was that the store management was not consulted on how the situation was managed,” she says. “A state policeman, without consulting management, removed these students from the store.”

[Romberry]

15. No sympathy for these wimps here.

If they wanted to make a statement, they should have stood their ground and dared the trooper to arrest them. Rosa Parks didn't make news by backing down and then complaining about it. If you think you're right, you do what is necessary to stand up. Backing down in the face of threats from some bozo trooper doesn't mean a thing to me.

[yardwork]

18. They were teens. A state trooper in full uniform threatened them.

I don't think it should be legal for troopers to wear their uniforms and badges while working as private security. He represented himself as being on duty as a state trooper but he was actually private security.

These teen girls did the best they could under the circumstances, I think. At least they went to the signing in the first place!

[October]

20. I agree.

They're teenagers. At least their story is being told, and we're finding out about these rent-a-troopers, etc.

[dchill]

22. The trooper and Santorum...

should both lose their jobs. I believe that WILL happen.

[Alcibiades]

23. Sgt. DiJiacomo must be punished

Clearly, this fellow simply decided on his own to violate these citizens' rights to speech and assembly.

Of course, that does not mean he can get away with it. Delaware does rely greatly on folks from other states shopping there (there's no sales tax) and on vacationers. We should complain loudly that Sgt. DiJiacomo abused his authority while off-duty to the Delaware Tourism Office:

www.visitdelaware.net/contact.asp

Delaware Tourism Office
99 Kings Highway
Dover, DE 19901
[phone]
1-866-284-7483
Fax: [phone]

Let them know that you will not visit Delaware or shop there until the Governor issues a public apology and Sgt. DiJiacomo is disciplined, preferably fired. The State Attorney General should also take action to see if anyone's civil rights were violated.

You should also contact the state's Democratic Governor, Ruth Ann Minner.


www.state.de.us/governor/comments.shtml

Office of the Governor
Tatnall Building
William Penn Street, 2nd Fl.
Dover, DE 19901

And, of course, the State Police:

Delaware State Police
ATTN: Superintendent Colonel Thomas Macleish
P.O. Box 430
Dover, DE 19903-0430

[phone]