Ron Paul Supporters Take On the Media

As is their wont, devotees of presidential candidate Ron Paul made their presence known on January 15 at the Three Kings Day Parade in Miami, an annual event that draws thousand of spectators. When one of them held up a sign touting their favorite candidate in front of a local Univision TV camera, the crew began to make wildly false criminal allegations against not only the sign-holder, but another guy who was videotaping the encounter. A cop who apparently observed the ridiculous confrontation in its entirety, and should have therefore known that no crime had been committed, is nonetheless seen intimidating the demonstrator.

Watching the video, I was reminded of my own surreal experience in South Florida back in 2000 when I was there to cover the infamous Gore/Bush election recount. I was subjected to the same self-important attitude by the media, and the same disregard for my First Amendment rights by the police.

Then and now, the bullies provided great comedic entertainment after the fact, even though it was disturbing to endure the abuse when it occurred.

This story was also published at CitizenJeff.com.