Nina Petraro Bastardi Heckled By Angry Mob Of GOP Diehards (VIDEO)

Nina Petraro Bastardi, a Republican-turned-Democrat who is running for New York's Nassau County Legislature, was heckled by a mob of rabid Republican demonstrators Wednesday as she announced her candidacy for the local legislative seat.

Bastardi and a group of supporters were gathered outside the local GOP headquarters to make the announcement when a deafening mob of agitators began to shout insults.

Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi was listing Bastardi's achievements as a summa cum laude student when someone in the audience yelled out, "She's dumb as a rock!" From there, the verbal assault escalated to vague threats and sexist insults.

When Bastardi tried to speak, the troublemakers drowned her out with chants of "Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!"

At one point, a protester threw a tea bag at Bastardi's group, a nod to the recent spat of GOP sponsored anti-tax, Tea-party events.

The Republican candidate for the Nassau seat, John Ciotti, was not present, but the Long Island newspaper Newsday reported that the chairman of the Nassau County Republican Committee, Joseph Modello, had this to say about the incident:

"They think they can come with impunity into our house and cause trouble. They can't walk all over us... We'd never pull that kinds of stunt. They come to us, they're going to have to take their risks. They got what they deserved today. They tried to make light of what we stand for in the Republican Party, and we gave it back to them."

WATCH:

Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[420]

01:41 PM on 06/01/2009

annafrom california needs to leave california....go to Texas. The GOP are thugs

[LeighAnnes]

10:03 AM on 05/25/2009

GOP are such a bunch of losers. We are all free to believe what they do and do as they say.

[dubster]

02:55 AM on 05/25/2009

I'd hit it.

[imsosure]

09:22 PM on 05/24/2009

seems that not everyone in the gop is willing to go down with the ship for traditions that have been convoluted with lies and parinoia

[ranchero42]

05:00 PM on 05/24/2009

Why does the GOP hate America? If you also happen to be somebody like oh, I don't know, COLIN POWELL; why would you continue to claim kinship with this hateful crowd who are just as afraid of their own shadow as they are of concepts like change and diversity?

[Longbaugh]

04:11 PM on 05/24/2009

Traitors betray their COUNTRY, not their party.

Conversely, traitors will often take to putting PARTY above country.

[ThermoChemist]

02:58 AM on 05/24/2009

"...when someone in the audience yelled out, "She's dumb as a rock!"
=======================================================

That's too funny. IF she "stayed" in the party she'd STILL be the same old "dumb rock", woudn't she?.

So, they appear to be find having that "dumb rock" in their party all along; it's when their "dumb rock" decided to make the switch that the insults start flying. [these people don't understand their self-admitted stupidity...!]

Glad to see them staying "true to form" in regards to their attacks:

-- Former Repub Specter gets berated by Repubs for switching parties (both McCain's names get "thrown into the mix")

-- The 3 Repub Senators (Collins, Snowe, Specter) who voted with the Dems on the Stim Bill were chastised by Repub PACs.

-- Meghan McCain recently made remarks ridiculing the "Old School Repubs". She was, of course, then attacked by Repubs.

[305Rider]

01:02 AM on 05/24/2009

I'm not surprised by this. The majority of the Long Island GOP is a bunch of wingnuts. most of the moderates moved down south for economic reasons.

[lastcallmd]

01:51 AM on 05/24/2009

Please, as principled as Arlen Spector. Deserves whatever flack she gets.

[Acidic]

02:52 AM on 05/25/2009

Real grown up.

[LeighAnnes]

09:59 AM on 05/25/2009

Angry mobs. You don't really need any other description for the GOP. It doesn't matter who or what they are talking about.

[Acidic]

02:53 AM on 05/25/2009

The whole Republican party is one huge wing-nut.

[SD Indy]

11:55 PM on 05/23/2009

I wonder what they would have done if she had stayed in the Christian-Tali.ban Party and voted with the Dems 90%+ of the time, would they have acted the way they did? Probably worse.

[The Ghost]

09:47 PM on 05/23/2009

The great Conservative Meltdown of 2009. My favorite show!

[Acidic]

02:53 AM on 05/25/2009

Ooh! What time does come on?

[calliope]

11:29 AM on 05/26/2009

I will buy a TiVo just so I can watch it over & over & over.....

[lynettema]

09:30 PM on 05/23/2009

Only one problem: The Democratic Party is full of conservatives.

[LeighAnnes]

09:59 AM on 05/25/2009

It has a few. It isn't "full" of them.

[JustAThought56]

08:24 PM on 05/23/2009

Well, while I don't approve of the behavior of the attendees, you have to ask yourself how you would react if the tables were turned. Nassau County has been a Republican stronghold for decades. Tom Suozzi is a Democrat (great guy and a wonderful family, BTW), and Nina Petraro Bastardi is switching from Republican to Democrat (for some excellent reasons).

But the location they picked to announce this invited the conflict - read the story, they are in front of the county GOP headquarters. I doubt very much that the posters on this thread would tolerate that from the Republican party. They should have picked a different venue to make the announcement.

[Bongborg]

06:00 PM on 05/24/2009

Maybe they wanted to give the Repubs a chance to show their couthiness.

[Acidic]

02:54 AM on 05/25/2009

Exactly! There was a method to the madness.

[mendelcrosses]

09:12 AM on 05/25/2009

I didnt realise in America the cnstitution only stipulates freedom of speech but restrict freedom of movement. Isnt the GOP party house a public place? Thought they said they represent the public and are open to the public?

[Rmath]

08:18 PM on 05/23/2009

How dare she abandon a sinking ship!

[rblackbird]

07:40 PM on 05/23/2009

How do I contribute to her campaign? I am serious. As Obama showed strong financial support at the grassroots is the new key to victory.

[rblackbird]

08:05 PM on 05/23/2009

You can find her campaign (Friends of Nina) and a way to contribute on the internet. I just did.

[PaceIstheTrick]

08:14 PM on 05/23/2009

You can donate on her website, www.electnina.com (go the Donate tab on the top right).

[plan9]

07:04 PM on 05/23/2009

Yo, teabaggers- wasn't this the same gang that Tom Delay sent to Dade County, to protest the 2000 presidential recount? Tommy, the bug zapper and DC drunkard dispatched a bunch of goons to pose as voters and the TV media was only too happy to broadcast their antics, casting them as angry voters. The difference now is Republicans don't matter, the GOP is null and void.