No Charges for Man Who Ejected Three from Town Hall Meeting

Federal prosecutors announced they will not charge the man who ejected three Denver residents from a taxpayer-funded town hall meeting on Social Security, because their car had an anti-war bumper sticker. The announcement was made after the Secret Service referred its investigation to the U.S. Attorney's office to consider charges of impersonating a federal officer. During the March incident, the unidentified man threatened to arrest the three attendees, if they did not leave, even though they had tickets and were not disrupting the event. An attorney of the three ejected from the event said they intend to file a civil suit for assault and violation of free speech rights. On March 28, following their ejection, the "Denver Three," as they have become known in the press, met with Secret Service officials to find out why they had been forcibly removed by who they thought was an agent. During a subsequent meeting, it was revealed that the three were identified by a Republican staffer who saw a bumper sticker on their car that read, "No Blood for Oil." The Secret Service also said that the Republican Party was in charge of ticket distribution and staffing for the event, despite the White House communications office having set up the event. The White House has since identified the mystery man as a "White House volunteer." A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office said the man did not display a badge or claim to be a federal agent, although another volunteer had referred to him at the time of the incident as the "Secret Service." U.S. Attorney William Leone said, "Criminal law is not an appropriate tool to resolve this dispute. The normal give and take of the political system is the appropriate venue for a resolution." The investigation was prompted by a request from several members of Congress from Colorado. Eight of the nine members of Colorado's Congressional delegation have issued statements saying the ejections were wrong. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), a long-time Bush ally, said, "I really do believe in free speech, and if you try to quell people it just makes them more determined."
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