In reply: "Obama Calls In Riot Cops on Peaceful TEA Party Protest"

In reply to: SharpElbows.Net: Obama Calls In Riot Cops on Peaceful TEA Party Protest

Quincy Herald Whig: About 200 tea party members make their feelings known during president's Quincy visit:

"There were a few tense moments when the crowd moved west down York toward Third Street after the president's motorcade arrived. A Secret Service agent asked the crowd to move back across the street to the north side.
When the crowd didn't move and began singing "God Bless, America" and the national anthem, Quincy Deputy Police Chief Ron Dreyer called for members of the Mobile Field Force to walk up the street.
The officers, mainly from Metro East departments near St. Louis and dressed in full body armor, marched from the east and stood on the south side of York facing the protesters.
There was no physical contact, and the officers did not come close to the crowd, but there were catcalls and more than a few upset tea party members, including a woman who shouted, "This is communism!"
McQueen also assisted in asking people to step back to the north side of York. The crowd moved back, the officers stayed for about 15 minutes and left, and there were no other incidents.
"It's just a communication issue. We were trying to get them to move across the street," Quincy Deputy Police Chief Curt Kelty said. "We were just trying to move them back, they complied, and it was fine."
Several of the Quincy Tea Party members thanked Kelty as they left the area."

I know what I read in the local paper cited above, and I know that some, including Gateway Pundit, dispute the story as written.

It'd be helpful if someone had video of that point in time that's referenced in the newspaper story, to see where folks were, and whether the secret service and local police were having difficulty moving folks off the street, as is claimed.

(I'm trying not to prejudge the situation, but I also remember Mr Hoft's over-the-top reaction to seeing the Secret Service Counter Assault Team (Gateway Pundit: OBAMA SECRET SERVICE Pulls Guns On Conservative Tea Party Protesters In Bristol), who is at every appearance of every president, and does their job without regard to the politics of the person they're protecting, and my reply to it at the time: With All Due Respect: Re: OBAMA SECRET SERVICE Pulls Guns On Conservative Tea Party Protesters In Bristol. Let's just say the readings on my hyperbole/exaggeration detector are pretty high, right now.)

I'm not saying that those in law enforcement/security didn't appear to over-react, judging by what I've seen so far--though as I said, I'd like to see whatever video exists of that period just after the motorcade arrived, and throughout both songs--but I'm inclined to give LE/SS the benefit of the doubt, particularly as regards a political motive.
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Revised and extended from a comment posted to Sharp Elbows on/at April 29, 2010, 1:40 PM (SE blog time)

Also blogging and h/t (May be updated, if/when I come across interesting reportage): memeorandum: OBAMA & BIG SIS Call In Riot Police on Quincy Tea Party Patriots (Video) (Jim Hoft/Gateway Pundit)
Osborne Ink - Nontroversy Born
Why Some Conservative Bloggers Should Take a Long, Cold Shower | The Moderate Voice
h/t: American Power: Obama Goons Send Illinois SWAT Team to Smash Tea Party Patriots!