The banter behind the lecterns wasn’t the only source of drama at last night’s candidate debate at a church in North Portland.
A man attempting to film the proceedings in defiance of the event’s host, the Emmanuel Temple Church, was thrown out rather forcefully during former Gov. John Kitzhaber’s apearance—a disturbance that didn’t disrupt the forum but did bring out several Portland police officers.
The man asked to leave, Dan Sandini, has put up a video of what transpired on YouTube, and he also planned to show the video to police.
In the midst of Kitzhaber’s remarks, moderator Sharon Gary-Smith had asked anyone who was filming without permission to stop doing so. (KOIN, a sponsor along with the Urban League and African American Alliance, was the only authorized documentarian.)
The video then shows two men sitting next to Sandini, asking him to stop and urging him to leave. Sandini refused, citing his First Amendment rights, and the video then shows a man grabbing Sandini’s video camera and possibly striking him in the nose. When I saw him outside, with a co-filmer, Mike Strickland, Sandini had a cut on his nose and was extremely upset.
“I continued to film,” he told me. “It’s a public event. They invited the public here.”
What did police do? Keep reading.
Police, however, weren’t able to find the men shown in Sandini’s video. An officer told Sandini outside the church that, “they’re probably hidden in a room that no one’s going to tell us about. They don’t even want us here.”
Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson confirmed that church officials didn’t want police there and that North Portland Precinct detectives would continue investigating next week whether misdemeanor assault had been committed.
No matter whether Sandini should have been allowed to film or not, “if the church wanted him to leave, the best course of action would have been to call us first.”
Sandini, who told me he wasn’t affiliated with any group, did not return a message seeking comment this afternoon, and neither did officials from Emmanuel Temple Church.
Jillian Schoene, Kitzhaber’s spokeswoman, said she didn’t see the video and wasn’t at the event, but called the incident “unfortunate.” She also said the campaign didn’t play a role in whether Sandini would be allowed to film, explaining that they leave questions of access up to an event’s hosts.
But should Sandini have been allowed to film? It’s not clear. Kyu Youm, a professor at the University of Oregon, said there are no “clear-cut lines drawn” when it comes to public events in private spaces. He said it’s an he hopes will go before the Supreme Court, although personally, he didn’t think Sandini should have been asked to stop filming, so long as the filming wasn’t disrupting the event.
In any case, even if the church rightly asked Sandini to leave, a violent ouster isn’t really a good answer, either.
If the man wasn’t being disruptive, what’s the problem?
@Graham – I don’t know, but maybe exclusive broadcasting rights for KOIN, one of the event’s sponsors? You can’t film in a movie theater either, even if you aren’t being disruptive.
I went to school with the man who “assaulted” him first. I don’t think he did anything wrong other than push his camera down. He is a kind & very intelligent person. The other man took it too far though.
One of those men, as you can see by the name tag, is Charles McGee III. (This was first pointed out to me by @wyleecoyotejim, although not on Twitter.) The irony is that once upon a time
http://communique.portland.or.us/02/12/an_…
McGee eloquently spoke up against censorship, in favor of the open flow of information. So much for that.
The First Amendment only applies to governments not businesses or churches. He should have been arrested for trespassing after refusing to leave.
This is like when the taggers claim First Amendment then get upset when the homeowner shoots them claiming Second Amendment.
According to Lynn Heider at KOIN, whose reporters were in attendance at th event, they had “in no way exclusivity to the video”. I have also heard that KOIN has asked the event organizers to apologize to the victim.
And the guy who threw the punch has been positively identified as former Democratic Portland Mayoral Candidate James Posey.
The man was not being disruptive, but calmly sitting in his seat with a camera, not in anybody’s way. Even the seats on either side of him were empty, leaving plenty of room for the assaulters to position themselves for the attack. Since when is it the protocol for two men to surround a guy in his seat, and throw punches for such a harmless an non-disruptive offense? What ever happened to dragging a supposedly “unruly” man out of a public event, rather than punching him in the face? And how could Kitzhaber expect to win over any votes by turning the other cheek as he looked on at the assault, and the build up to the assault, and simply keep on talking, as if he had no concern? Not even a comment. Not even a pause. Is he really for the little guy? Is he really a Good Samaritan? Could he not have even been polite enough to stop speaking, as he sees a man being illegally assaulted right before his very eyes, at one of his own public campaign appearances, by those who hosted him?
On a seperate note, I always hear Kitzhaber and his closest supporters preaching about separation of Church and State, so what’s the deal with holding a campaign event for a Gubernatorial candidate in a Church??? Isn’t this against the Kitzhaber religion?
The man was not being disruptive, but calmly sitting in his seat with a camera, not in anybody’s way. Even the seats on either side of him were empty, leaving plenty of room for the assaulters to position themselves for the attack. Since when is it the protocol for two men to surround a guy in his seat, and throw punches for such a harmless an non-disruptive offense? What ever happened to dragging a supposedly “unruly” man out of a public event, rather than punching him in the face? And how could Kitzhaber expect to win over any votes by turning the other cheek as he looked on at the assault, and the build up to the assault, and simply keep on talking, as if he had no concern? Not even a comment. Not even a pause. Is he really for the little guy? Is he really a Good Samaritan? Could he not have even been polite enough to stop speaking, as he sees a man being illegally assaulted right before his very eyes, at one of his own public campaign appearances, by those who hosted him?
On a separate note, I always hear Kitzhaber and his closest supporters preaching about separation of Church and State, so what’s the deal with holding a campaign event for a Gubernatorial candidate in a Church??? Isn’t this against the Kitzhaber religion?
@pacificrk – It was private property. The event organizers told him he couldn’t film, and he did. It doesn’t matter if he was ‘sitting quietly’ or ‘not bothering anyone around him’ or not – thems the rules, and they had every right to kick him out if he didn’t follow them. You’d do the same if he was sitting in your house, filming.
I love you morons who think you can assault someone for not stopping filming at a PUBLIC event.
It was a public event – If they wished, they could have asked the police to remove him when he refused, HOWEVER, since it was a INVITED public event, they gave up most of thier power under the law to remove him physically. (And non defensive assault is a crime either way in a public forum such as a church)
And the loser who gave the analogy of the home and the second amendment. If you INVITE someone to your home, you cannot legally shoot him if he doesnt obey your commands. Invitees are not the same as intruders under any law in the United States. If you invite someone in your home, or any property, you cannot then use force, or deadly force, unless in a defensive measure. (Otherwise it would be a easy way to kill someone, invite them over, then say the person refused to leave and you had to shoot him)
Thank God the law is not what you morons think it is, and this jerk that assualted the man will face charges of assault an battery 🙂
@tiernanlaw I think you’re on the wrong website. Go yell your strawman arguments somewhere else. I’m sure it feels orgasmic to think that you’re right and everyone else is wrong, but indulge in some reading comprehension before you bust a nut: No one advocated shooting intruders or said that it was okay to assault this man. We simply said he didn’t have a right to film at this event, even if he ‘was sitting quietly and not bothering anyone.’
I spoke to KOIN. Lynn Heider told me directly that KOIN had “no exclusivity” to the video and that she didn’t see any reason why anyone could not film should they wish to. They wanted the public to view the event in case, as was in mine, we could not personally attend.
@tiernanlaw? As in Bob Tiernan? You must not be very busy if you have time to bother us here.
Dan Sandini is a troublemaker, and a SHILL for the CORPORATE RIGHT. He tried to make trouble at the Tea Party Rally in Pioneer Square by trying to antagonize Counter Protesters, they only mocked and ridiculed him, so he went on a tirade sending a “Public Letter” to Governor Sam Adams [what a cry baby]
more here; http://3cpo.brinkster.net/tp.htm
the problem is, this guy filming is a fucking snake. who chops up videos, and spreads misinformation. you got what you deserved. someone who isn’t me thinks you didn’t get nearly what you deserved.