Report: NRA audience called for female protester to be Tased RAW STORY

Published: Monday September 24, 2007





Print This Email This Despite the uproar that ensued after a questioner was shocked following a forum Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) held in Florida, not everyone is unhappy with the Taser. At the National Rifle Association's "Celebration of American values" conference Friday, as Sen. John Thune (R-SD) delivered his opening remarks, a protester stood up and began yelling, according to a 183-word brief by Ben Pershing in Monday's Roll Call. The audience responded. "As she bellowed, a source who was present told [the paper], 'All these old dudes started shouting, Tase her! Tase her!' "Alas, security personnel just quietly walked the offender out the door, sans the 50,000 volts of electricity and  as NRA members might appreciate  'more stopping power than a .357 Magnum' that Taser claims to provide," Pershing wrote. "Maybe next time." A report on the protester in an MSNBC blog made no mention of any 'Tase cheers.' NBC's Lauren Appelbaum wrote, "At the NRA conference, while GOP Sen. John Thune was speaking, a woman rushed into the ballroom holding a sign that said 'honk for peace' on one side and showed a picture of dead children on the other side. She yelled 'Don't Iraq Iran' and addressed the senator directly. 'Please senator, don't Iraq Iran. Stop killing the children. You are all accomplices to war crimes. I will not stand any more bloodshed.' A NRA member yelled at security, repeatedly saying 'How the hell did she get in here? Get her out of here.'" According to MSNBC, afterward, Thune defended the woman's right to protest. "Thune, after the woman was forcefully removed, talked about rights and said basic rights included her right to speak her mind. Then he went on with his speech," Appelbaum wrote for MSNBC's First Read.



