As Steve reported Tuesday, a 61-year old librarian named Carol Kreck was removed from a McCain campaign event for holding a sign that read Bush=McCain. At the time, the local officer who asked Kreck to leave said he was doing so because the Secret Service had asked him to. Well, it turns out that it was the McCain campaign who personally wanted her booted.
It was Sen. John McCain's staff who asked security at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts to remove people holding protest signs at the venue — not U.S. Secret Service agents, who were not involved in Carol Kreck's ouster from the galleria.
But Thursday, after two days of being vilified by bloggers, letter writers and others, the Secret Service emphatically denied involvement.
"Contrary to some recent reporting, the Secret Service had no involvement in Ms. Kreck being removed from the area," said Malcolm D. Wiley Sr., spokesman for the Secret Service. "It was not done at our request or suggestion. Any assertion to the contrary is inaccurate and inconsistent with our established policies and procedures."
So not only was a 61-year old woman who posed no threat whatsoever kicked out a public event in a manner that clearly violates the First Amendment, it turns out it was the McCain campaign who made it all happen. It seems her sign hit very close to home.
Kreck blogs about the ongoing incident at HuffPo. You can order her Bush = McCain sign in various formats (T-shirt, bumpersticker, etc) and part of the proceeds will go to Kreck's defense fund.