Protestors Ransack Bush/Cheney Headquarters In Orlando

Protestors Ransack Bush/Cheney Headquarters In Orlando (Local 6 News)

A group of protestors stormed and then ransacked a Bush-Cheney headquarters building in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, according to Local 6 News. Local 6 News reported that several people from the group of 100 Orlando protestors face possible assault charges after the group forced their way inside the Republican headquarters office. While in the building, some of the protestors drew horns and a mustache on a poster of President George W. Bush and poured piles of letters in the office, according to the report. “We told them to leave, they broke the law,” Republican headquarters volunteer Mike Broom said.

Two protestors received minor injuries when the crowd stormed the building, including a Republican volunteer. One of the protestors said she wanted to send a message. “We want to send a clear message to Bush, we want him to take his hands off our overtime pay,” protestor Esmeralda Heuilar said.

Local 6 News learned that most of the protestors were from the AFL-CIO and were taking part in one of 20 other coordinated protests around the country. A spokesperson with the AFL-CIO told Local 6 News that the Orlando protest did not go as planned. A protest similar to Orlando’s demonstration was held at a Bush-Cheney office in Miami at the same approximate time, Local 6 News reported.

One wonders what else Local 6 News has learned. For example, was anyone hurt at the other 19 protests?

We do have a minor trend on our hands, with two shootups and a minor riot at Bush-Cheney campaign offices in the past month or so. I haven’t seen reports of similar incidents at Kerry-Edwards sites.

Update (0923): Apparently, there have been a whole lot more incidents. Michelle Malkin has a roundup.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.