'Occupy' protesters disrupt Paul town hall
Keene, New Hampshire (CNN) - A handful of Occupy Wall Street activists disrupted a well-attended town hall hosted by Rep. Ron Paul at Keene State College Monday.
After a moderator announced Paul would be taking his last question, a man in the audience stood up and yelled "Mic check!"
Programming note: GOP presidential candidates face off at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, November 22, in the CNN Republican National Security Debate in Washington, D.C.
About 15 people chimed in, repeating a few lines:
"There are criminals on Wall Street who walk free. There are protesters in jail. There is something wrong with this system."
Paul listened to the chant and chatted with an aide as the protesters dominated the room. Then he leaned into the mic and asked: "Do you feel better?"
Paul explained to the audience he was "very much involved with the 99."
"I've been condemning that 1% because they've been ripping us off," he said. "The people on Wall Street got the bail-outs and you guys got stuck with the bills. And I think that's where the problem is."
The audience of several hundred, mostly students, applauded in Paul's defense.
Organizers of the event had originally set out 200 chairs but had to wheel in stacks of extra seating when students continued to pack into the hall. Dozens stood during Paul's speech.
They applauded many of the rallying points of Paul's message, including his belief United States troops should come home, and his advocacy for changing drug laws.
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Reminds me of the Tea Party in the summer of 2009 interrupting town hall meetings by Democrats shouting them down about health care reform. Let it ride.
He can bring this country together. Let him do it.
Oh noes!!!! You mean angry conservative ideolgoues with massive dark-money corporate funding to help them get their astroturf movement off the ground...they're not the only ones with opinions who might choose to disrupt a town hall? Quick, some brownshirt bobblehead pundit needs to release an opinion piece setting everyone straight that it's only conservartives that are allowed to do these things!!!!! IOKIYAR!!!!
So OWS is protesting the most honest politician in America? The only one with the guts to call out the Military Industrial Complex and the crimes of the Federal Reserve?
They need to educate themselves beyond the indoctrination they received from their Marxist professors.
Seems those particular protesters didn't do their homework since Ron Paul has been protesting wall street for over 30 years already...
Ironic. They attack the one guy who has been fighting crony capitalism for decades. Long before it was "cool."
this man is a true patriot ron paul has my vote.
I wonder if these protestors recognize that Paul is the only candidate that is talking about anything remotely similar to what these protestors are talking about? Strange place and event to disrupt.
vote ron paul save the country
Ralph Nader of the Republican Party. Yelling at cars on the freeway but delivering no real anwers to problems of our time. He likes "small" government. How will Americans like no Social Security check and no Medicare?
How can anyone disrupt an old coot politician that is about 2 steps away from the looney bin.Go back to Perryville he will give you some kind of subsidy.
Lets see if we see that on the Nightly News tonight, highly unlikely.
ron paul-gary johnson for president!
Paul rocked it.
Contrast Paul's response to Karl Rove's or Newt Gingrich's! Paul was actually responsive, polite, and empathetic.
You know... I'm really beginning to like this guy...
Ron Paul is right on target. The only one who consistently talked against the bail outs, the war on drugs and our foreign wars. No government agency should never break down someone's doors with guns because they worked in the medical marijuana industry or because they used medical marijuana to help numb the side effects of cancer and many other horrible disease, which is what the government does to this day.
Ron Paul supporters ARE the base of both Occupy WallStreet and Tea Party movements. They are the 99% Independent voters who are fed up with the Left vs Right merry-go-round. The General Assembly (steering-committee) seem to be out of step with the real numbers at Occupy rallies. These are the people trying to steer both movements (Occupy and Tea Party) back to the status quo as usual.
I thought this guy stands up for something but now this
"Some Republicans worry that potential presidential candidate Ron Paul is too extreme to help the party. Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, begs to differ. The Texas congressman “brings energy and a great number of young activists into the Republican Party and the broader conservative movement,” Norquist writes on Politico. “Some conservatives whined that 10 percent of the 11,000 attendees at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference were Ron Paul enthusiasts. "This is a problem? Have a different favorite candidate — bring your activists to CPAC next year,” Norquist adds. The bottom line, Norquist argues: “Political leaders who bring new activists into the party are a great asset.” (Newsmax.com). THEY ARE ALL OWNED BY NORQUIST!! NOW THE REAL ISSUES ARE WHO FUNDS THIS "AMERICA FOR TAX REFORM" WHICH SHOULD BE RENAMED TO "RETHUGLICAN FOR TOP ONE %"
Either the protesters made a wrong turn at Albuquerque or they are THAT misinformed as to where Dr. Paul stands.
I hope I'm half as witty when I reach Dr. Paul's age. Tragically, I believe the current 'gimme more' populace will not elect Dr. Paul even if he makes it on the ballot next year. He's just too much of a grown up for most. I believe that with four more years of decline, more folks may see the light. Perhaps we should honor Dr. Paul's legacy now by printing up "Rand Paul – 2016" bumper stickers. It's our best shot at sanity that I can discern.
Ron Paul is the most viable candidate at this point.
Ron Paul is the man!
looks like the apple fell real far from the tree when it comes to Ron and Rand Paul on this issue.
'Occupy' protesters disrupt Paul town hall? How do they know this ? seems like a disruption did happen. Hmm-mm .
I like what he had to say during this rally. I was originally not for Ron Paul; but after reviewing where he stands on issues, and seeing his integrity. I will switch sides to vote for him; integrity counts. Some of his ideas are pretty far fetched... but I think that's what we need, someone to aim higher than necessary for us to get anything accomplished. As president, Ron Paul's ideas & plans could not be fully implemented without support from congress anyway. (checks and balances).
Earlier today I heard that Ron Paul was tied for first in the polls, but since many media sources choose to not report about him at all, I tried to verify this on his website, which has been hacked. All you get is a "internal server error".
Didn't seem like a disruption to me–sounded like people saying they are frustrated, which they have every right to be. They cheered Rep. Paul when he responded to them. He seems to be a good man–so much so that yesterday, for the first time in my life, I volunteered to work for his campaign.