They arrived before sun up and within minutes of the Capitol Building opening there was no room left inside. Still they arrived by car, bus and truck until 12400+ jammed the front of the Capitol Building to express their dismay about the Right to Work law being voted on in the House and Senate.
In what opponents called a political objective possibly violating the open meetings laws and requirements for public hearings bills were passed and sent to the governor making Michigan, the home of the modern labor movement a Right to Work State.
From across the state virtually every union and their supporters were represented from Autoworkers to Teamsters and teachers to Boilermakers. Hearing speeches from political leaders like House Democratic Leader Tim Griemel, labor leaders from the AFL-CIO, UAW and Teamster and religious leaders, the crowd heard and reacted to calls for the legislation not to be signed into law. Passage was a foregone conclusion, giving the Republican majority in both Houses.
Ultimately, in spite of pleas from the Michgian Democratic Congressional delegation led by Sen. Carl Levin, Gov. Snyder signed the bills into law.
The protesters at the Capitol Building itself were peaceful albeit loud and passionate, only one incident at the entrance to the Capitol (under the front steps of the building) as a mounted officer started to back her horse into the crowd to force them back. Union appointed and trained marshals used to control the crowd and defuse tense situations stepped between the crowd and mounted officers moving the crowd back and the mounted deputies removed themselves from the front of the building, leaving it to regular and SWAT team troopers armed with assault weapons and tear gas.
Later in the day protesters surrounded the Governor Romney Building Office and State Police used pepper spray to break up the crowd. Officials claimed a protester grabbed a Trooper, provoking the response.
The main protest at the Capitol Building was peaceful and had something of a carnival feeling in spite of the serious nature of the gathering. People were helpful and friendly and several unions were passing out bottled water and hot dogs and chips to the crowd.
While virtually all the attention during the day was on the two RTW bills, an anti-abortion and contraceptive bill was also passed and Planned Parenthood was present to remind its constituents and the public of that bill, which was duly noted by several speakers as an attack on Women’s Rights.
The RTW laws will be effective ninety days after the end of the current legislative session. Further protests and court challenges are expected during that period.
This mixed martial arts expert has offered to drop assault and battery charges if the man who sucker punched him would fight him one-on-one in a cage fight with a referee. I’ll bet you a quarter the coward who punched him with a gang of thugs around him will fight in court rather than a fair fight. This MMA expert feared if he had fought back in that situation he would have been beaten to death. This story is being ignored by most of the media. The facts are a man was beaten up in Lansing. He didn’t ask for it any more than a rape victim asks for it by wearing provocative clothing. Or by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, unless peaceful counter-demonstrations are not allowed anymore. This is still a free country, last I checked.
Meanwhile, media reports have poked holes in the original, edited video Crowder posted online after he was punched. The New York Times reported “a look at the video broadcast on the Sean Hannity show appears to show quite clearly that [Crowder] left out an important section of the footage when he put together his edit.” The unedited footage shows “the man who punched Mr. Crowder being knocked to the ground seconds before and then getting up and taking a swing at the comedian,” the Times reported. Adamczyk doesn’t understand why Crowder wouldn’t report the crime to the police and get the perpetrator prosecuted. He stressed that the MSP will not go forward with an investigation unless a crime is reported, and “there are all types of personal reasons” people sometimes don’t report a crime, he said. “If somebody broke into your house, wouldn’t you immediately report it to the police? If someone assaulted you or your family member wouldn’t you report it immediately to the police?” Adamczyk said. “Well, why wouldn’t you, unless there’s a personal agenda there.”
And Crowder has talked about trying to help those inside the tent by pushing off the attackers. There were people, equipment, and so on inside of the tent. How sad. This article includes a video of the union folks carving up the $35,000 RENTED tent to take home pieces as a souvenirs. And the story of how the owner of the tent is likely to face increased insurance rates as a result. http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/18070 And we can also tell the story of Clint, the innocent hot dog vendor who lost his whole cart due to the mob attack.
Secondly, did you foot the bill for the rental tent? or was that the Koch Brothers who fund the AFP? I believe it was their group that decided to it was a brilliant idea to do that smack dab in the middle of what was going to be a very heated and long protest. Common sense is not running rampant. While I think it was horrible what happened to the man and his small business it seems he will be O.K based on the kind hearted people that donated to help him out. So, if you want to call Officer Adamczyk a liar, who am I to stop you?
It's important to understand the source and context. We wouldn't want to be gullible, right? So I searched. Here is what I found: http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2012/12/police_no_charges_filed_by_lan.html Neither Clint nor the owner of the tent has filed a complaint either. How are you supposed to file a complaint against a mob? Best I can tell, you pulled your quotes from the "Talking Points Memo" blog. http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/12/steven-crowder-no-charges.php And the slant of that blog notwithstanding, it is not a matter of calling the office a liar. He is offering an opinion.
I know you are a huge fan of RTW. The Mackinaw Center is pleased no doubt. But Snyder knew how divisive this would be and so, common sense went right out the window by a few imbeciles found on BOTH sides deciding to stir the pot. By the way, how can the full video of it be posted when it was Crowders buddies that shot it and he edited it? Why not just turn over the FULL unedited video to police, making identification very easy? Because he had a agenda. That is why he is not pressing charges? because then he would have to turn the video over. And we both know that will never happen.
Public sector union membership has increased, as teachers and other government workers fight to keep their right to organize. States like Wisconsin have survived bitter fights against conservative governors who try to limit their power. As their policies have taken effect, the voters kept Governor Walker by a larger margin than he won by in the first place. Let’s hope Michigan learns from Wisconsin’s recent troubles and its own past decades of suffering and has a more civil transition to a new era of growth. It looks like Michigan may only have a week of loud protests instead of the months suffered by Wisconsin. http://troy.patch.com/blog_posts/public-sector-unions-the-next-budget-challenge
I will preface this by saying I really don't have a opinion on RTW, however I do believe that it should have been put before the voters of Michigan. I feel my rights were trampled on. Secondly, a good reporter, reports the news, not becomes part of the story. As you will see from my earlier post, if you had bothered to read the entire thread. Crowder has not pressed charges because he would have to turn over the video that they shot and edited. So, at this point, the MSP say nothing can be done.Hardly worth applauding Crowders heroism, that's purely fictional. I'll save applause for a REAL hero. If the Koch Brothers/AFP want to set up a rental tent to celebrate the passage of RTW, they should have had everyone in the tent sign releases because they knew there was going to be a large demonstration/turn out. So look to those deep pockets for financial relief. I also have no doubt that insurance was taken out with the tent rental, which is the usual practice. Did they really think the Unions were going to say, "Hey, this sounds like a great idea!" Let's be real. It was dumb putting that tent in the middle of that mess. It would be like picnicking on the freeway, your going to get run over, so why do it?
Look, Sherlock, go read what the Michigan State Police reported about the incident and get back to us. If your ONLY news source is Fox, then you are just repeating the same mantra of the weak minded.