McCain Miami Rally, Getting Ugly Down Here

[Fuzz]

After the rally, we witnessed a near-street riot involving the exiting McCain crowd and two Cuban-American Obama supporters. Tony Garcia, 63, and Raul Sorando, 31, were suddenly surrounded by an angry mob. There is a moment in a crowd when something goes from mere yelling to a feeling of danger, and that's what we witnessed. As photographers and police raced to the scene, the crowd elevated from stable to fast-moving scrum, and the two men were surrounded on all sides as we raced to the circle.



The event maybe lasted a minute, two at the most, before police competently managed to hustle the two away from the scene and out of the danger zone. Only FiveThirtyEight tracked the two men down for comment, a quarter mile down the street.

"People were screaming 'Terrorist!' 'Communist!' 'Socialist!'" Sorando said when we caught up with him. "I had a guy tell me he was gonna kill me."

Asked what had precipitated the event, "We were just chanting 'Obama!' and holding our signs. That was it. And the crowd suddenly got crazy."



Garcia told us that the man who originally had warned the two it was his property when they had first tried to attend the rally with Obama T-shirts was one of the agitators. Coming up just before the scene started getting out of hand, the man whispered in Garcia's ear, "I'm gonna beat you up the next time I see you." Garcia described him for us: "a big stocky man wearing a tweed jacket." He used hand motions to emphasize this was a large guy. We went back to look for the gentleman twenty minutes after the incident but didn't find him.

The two Obama supporters had attempted to attend the event with tickets printed from the McCain website. Both were clad in Obama T-shirts, Sorando in a blue "Obama '08" shirt, and Garcia in a white "Obama-Biden" shirt. They were told that the event was being held on private property and that wearing the shirts or carrying the signs they would be asked to either remove the shirts or not attend.

For an hour during the rally, the two had stood across the street from the lumberyard on public property holding yard signs. Some drivers honked in support, and others honked in disapproval. When the rally ended and the crowd spilled out, the disturbance began.



Garcia had a message for his stocky, tweed-clad threatener. "You tell that guy he can find Tony Garcia down at the West Dade library every day from 7 to 7 helping people early vote. I'll be there from 1 to 5 on Saturday and Sunday. You tell him if he wants to kick my ass that's where he can find me. Come beat me up."

Not thirty seconds later, John McCain drove by in his SUV and waved at Garcia on the sidewalk, who was happily waving his Obama sign.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/10/mccain-miami-rally-getting-ugly-down.html

[lamp_shade]

1. IMO they shouldn't have been there. n/t

[bigtree]

3. It's their state. McCain doesn't own the street.

Our democracy expects for them to be there.

[Webster Green]

4. Why not?

Tell me, please.. :shrug:

[Lex]

6. Bullshit! WTF country are you living in?

They have no right to be threatened. They were not being aggressive at all, just expressing their support for Obama.

[Joe Chi Minh]

16. I think it was a Tourette's syndrome kind of outburst. No intelligible

reason for posting it that even he can think of.

[AlCzervik]

7. why not and please be specific.

[47of74]

10. Why the heck not?

Why the heck not? This is our country too, after all.

[kestrel91316]

11. What about the First Amendment don't you understand?

The right to dissent while standing on public property is one my ancestors fought and died for.

What, did Pelosi or somebody steal your spine?

[Lochloosa]

12. Crickets.....

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. IMO, you shouldn't be here.

[Alexander]

23. Seconded

[Vinca]

21. Why shouldn't they be there? They should have been allowed

into the McCain event as they were dressed, too. Obama wouldn't keep dissenters out, he'd try to win them over. McCain supporters include a number of idiot, bigot slugs and that's just the way it is.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[paulk]

25. they had every right to be there

there's no law against being stupid.

and wearing Obama t-shirts and carrying Obama signs to a McCain rally isn't the brightest thing in the world to be doing.

[Bryn]

26. I lived and worked in Miami when Kerry was running

Miami was and still is BLUE BLUE BLUE BLUE BLUE!

[bigtree]

2. republicans are afraid of democracy

McCain inspired scum

[renate]

5. I love Tony Garcia!

Mad props to both of those brave men, of course! :patriot:

But Tony made me laugh with his "You tell that guy he can find Tony Garcia down at the West Dade library... helping people early vote.... You tell him if he wants to kick my ass that's where he can find me. Come beat me up."

Now THAT is somebody I would love to have a beer with.

:rofl:

[47of74]

8. And I bet that guy will be right down there too

Yeah, and I bet that guy will be right down there at the library. These Republicans love talking tough, but if a person confronts them they waste no time running away.

[47of74]

9. Sorry...network hiccup

My apologies, I had a network hiccup which caused an accidental double posting.

[Incitatus]

13. animals

[closeupready]

14. Too much of this thuggery in Miami.

Why I'd never live there. But good on Garcia and Sorando.

[pipi_k]

15. OK, they have a perfect right to be there, but....

to me it's like this...


If they have even an INKLING that they'll be around a crowd that's mostly not playing with a full deck, they're just asking for trouble.


do these two also go to the zoo and stick their arms into the tiger's cage? OH MY GOD!!!! Look at that!!!! Who would have expected such a thing....the tiger ripped my goddamned arm off!!!!!


So they wear Obama t-shirts to a McCain/Palin rally where they just KNOW there's gonna be some real fruitcakes roaming the crowds and it's either a HUGE surprise that they nearly got themselves killed....or they went with the intention of provoking said fruitcakes.

Yeah...they have a right to be there...but not every right is the smart thing to do.

[bigtree]

17. show me the reports of assaults by Obama supporters on McCainites at their rallies

There is NO excuse for the behavior of the McCainites here. It's just absurd to try and craft one.

[Joe Chi Minh]

18. I think you got your imagery wrong. Tigers? Are you kidding? Rabid curs, you

mean.

It's a terrible thing to admit, but when I see those people at McCain/Palin rallies, the word, "eugenics" springs to mind. If only they could be bred out of your gene pool, how much more governable your country would become.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

20. That's why I have no respect for women who've been raped.

They should go around dressed up like sluts, what with their mini-skirts and their faces painted up like trollops.

[lamp_shade]

27. Agreed, pipi. Not a smart thing to do unless they didn't care about getting whupped.

[shadowknows69]

24. McCain/Palin owns this shit

They've done nothing to stem the mob hatred they're creating.

[leftofthedial]

28. I'm digging this Garcia guy.