Occupy Wall Street Supporters 'Mic Check' Mitt Romney Over Bain Capital's Job Cuts (VIDEO)
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NEW YORK -- Supporters of Occupy Wall Street say they "mic checked" Mitt Romney in New Hampshire on Friday over the Republican frontrunner's tenure at private equity firm Bain Capital.
During a spaghetti dinner that Romney was hosting at the Tilton School in Tilton, N.H., protestors used the "human microphone," a call-and-response tactic originally designed to get around New York's ban on use of amplification equipment without a permit. As Rose Bookbinder, 28, addressed the former Massachusetts governor, her every phrase was echoed by her fellow protestors.
Transcript:
Romney: ... the challenges that we have, and I intend to be one of those leaders, with your help. Thank you so much!Rose Bookbinder: Mic check!
Romney says he creates jobs!
Yet as the CEO!
For Bain Capital! Romney made millions!
From bankrupting companies!
And laying off workers!
The mic check was brief but protesters who were there said they got their point across.
"I wanted to make sure that the voice of the 99 percent was present," said Bookbinder, an organizer with the UAW in New York. "I'm a union worker. I come from a working-class background, and I don't believe that Mitt Romney is going to be a voice for us."
Bookbinder said she, along with several other UAW members who accompanied her, had originally hoped to ask Romney a question directly but the candidate took only three questions from the crowd of several hundred.
"I did interrupt him a little," Bookbinder said. "He only took three questions but it was an audience of probably 400, so I don't think that's very polite either."
Mary Clinton, another Occupy Wall Street member, estimated about 20 protestors attended the event. "The mic check was LOUD," she wrote in a text message. "It was awesome."
Afterward, the protestors were escorted out of the building -- Clinton is not sure by whom -- into the New Hampshire night, she said.
Bookbinder said she may have changed a few minds. "Walking out, it was really interesting to me," she said. "There was a group of people who were like, 'What is the company that was responsible for laying off workers?'"
The Romney campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.
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First Posted: 01/06/12 09:03 PM ET Updated: 01/06/12 10:00 PM ET