RNC created a "black-hat" squad to track the Paulites and other troublemakers

[FrankRep]

'Black hats' keep lookout for troublemakers

Washington Times
September 4, 2008

Fearing demonstrations from Ron Paul delegates here at the Republican National Convention, the party has created a "black-hat" squad to track the Paulites and other potential troublemakers to make sure they don't cause a scene on the convention floor.

Identified by their black baseball caps emblazoned with a white star, squad members keep an eye on delegates they fear might cause a scene. The squad is empowered by the convention managers to take delegates' credentials and kick them off the convention floor -- a step one convention official said would be unprecedented.

Squad members have made "their presence known, to let all people know big brother's watching them," said a Republican official familiar with the squad who has been involved in the last 10 GOP conventions.

Convention spokesmen did not respond to requests for comment.
....


Full Story:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...ons-from-ron-/

[Indy Vidual]

Bogus

[pauletteNV]

A sure sign of fear. A sure sign of progress on our part, imo.

[Pauls' Revere]

May as well have worn swaztikas around thier arms.

[Todd McGreevy]

Well, it looks like the Washington Times has taken down the "Black Hat" Squads story off their website.

check out the original linK:
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008...-from-ron-pau/

I just left Chris Dolan a message asking him where the story went...

Deputy Assistant Managing Editor/Politics
Chris Dolan
202/636-3183

http://washingtontimes.com/contact-us/

[Bruno]

Well, it looks like the Washington Times has taken down the "Black Hat" Squads story off their website.

check out the original linK:
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008...-from-ron-pau/

I just left Chris Dolan a message asking him where the story went...

Deputy Assistant Managing Editor/Politics
Chris Dolan
202/636-3183

http://washingtontimes.com/contact-us/

Good! Keep us informed! TPTB didn't like the article, it seems.

[Feenix566]

This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. The RNC wants to win the election. To that end, then want to present a united front to the American people. A lot of independent voters are watching the convention, so having a protester interrupting McCain's speech would be bad publicity. Of course they're going to have people in place to prevent that sort of thing. To do otherwise would be idiotic.

[dannno]

Squad members have made "their presence known, to let all people know big brother's watching them," said a Republican official familiar with the squad who has been involved in the last 10 GOP conventions.

No name??? Damn. This guy would be on my list to try for treason.

[dannno]

Uh.. the article has disappeared.. and I know it used to exist because I found it on google.. but even the cached version has been deleted

[Jeremy]

http://www.unitedliberty.org/425/the-black-hat-brigade/

[Todd McGreevy]

OK, before you start calling Chris Dolan, he JUST called me back... it IS up... got a new url:

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008...ons-from-ron-/

Then there's this one in case you haven't seen it.

http://www.dailynewscaster.com/2008/...aul-delegates/

Add this up with the pre-emptive raid on protestors' homes.... and you have a very scary scenario don't you think?
http://www.thirdrailblog.com/?q=node/31

I shared this with Mr. Dolan and he was not interested in pursuing any further.
At least he called me back. Thank you Mr. Dolan.

[SnappleLlama]

This is truly unbelievable. I mean...I'm reading this, but I still don't believe it.

[Wendi]

Someone please archive the article before it does disappear for good. I'm at work right now & can't do it...

[HOLLYWOOD]

"My FRIENDS... I'm in CONTROL" McLieberman


Wow, so much for Liberties and free speech... now lets look at this way:

$16+ MILLION for the Convention of TAXPAYER'S MONEY

$50 MILLION for Security of TAXPAYERS MONEY


$50 MILLION in ANCILLARY EXPENSES for the "RNC/GOP PARTY" of TAXPAYER'S MONEY <=== party people, media, intensionally forget about this money, ie payola, reimbursements, etc

$116+ MILLION of TAXPAYERS MONIES yet SQUELCH ALL RIGHTS & LIBERTIES!

[rancher89]

OK, before you start calling Chris Dolan, he JUST called me back... it IS up... got a new url:

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008...ons-from-ron-/

Then there's this one in case you haven't seen it.

http://www.dailynewscaster.com/2008/...aul-delegates/

Add this up with the pre-emptive raid on protestors' homes.... and you have a very scary scenario don't you think?
http://www.thirdrailblog.com/?q=node/31

I shared this with Mr. Dolan and he was not interested in pursuing any further.
At least he called me back. Thank you Mr. Dolan.

I have been posting all over the net about the Dailynewscaster report--it didn't all go that way. After our pictures were taken maybe 20 security dudes mingled with us, one asked me please if he could inspect my bag, he did, nothing was taken, even tho it was obvious I had the manifesto. My opinion--those who protested even a little ended up with their stuff confiscated. There were signs where we entered--you were entering private property and subject to search at any time.

I did not see the small white CFL sign being taken, but no resistance was given. The blue flag that Jeff Austin had taken from him went pretty much as reported. There will be a lawsuit, I have the lawyer's business card, we are in touch. (Jeff is a fellow NC delegate)

Only two of our NC delegation got followed and it was a joke, no pretense, they were not really "tailing" anyone. Our guys treated like the joke it was.

Bottom line--don't trust any media--even "our own." Those with an agenda will promote their agenda to the detriment of truth.

[AZ Libertarian]

For the record, here is the rest of the text of the article (for archiving - as requested) not provided by the Most August OP:

The black-hat squad is on the lookout for T-shirts, unauthorized signs and anything else that could cause a disruption, according to people familiar with the operation who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

Convention leaders always have been vigilant about outsiders gaining unauthorized access to their events, but this time the danger comes from within: Mr. Paul, who sought the Republican presidential nomination, won dozens of delegates to the convention and has hundreds of other supporters who are credentialed to attend.

What’s more, Mr. Paul’s supporters have been creative about getting attention for themselves.

“Here they have a vocal group who are actually in the building who want to make a statement,” the official said.

So far, Paul delegates and backers have remained subdued. On Wednesday night the only disturbance in the hall came from two demonstrators from Code Pink, the anti-war organization. They apparently gained access to the arena with press credentials but were scooped off the floor quickly by the black-hat squad, among others.

In addition to the black hats on the floor, there are also convention aides with yellow hats, who are the rapid-response team to handle disturbances; those with red hats, who are the floor managers; and those with white hats, who serve as ushers, helping with seating and passing out papers.

The floor and security managers include both lobbyists and longtime Washington political operatives.

The black hats’ power comes from their authority to revoke credentials. The fine print on the back of each credential says: “This ticket is a revokable license. Tickets may be revoked from persons engaging in inappropriate or disorderly behavior, or for any other reason deemed necessary by security personnel and/or the Republican National Committee.

Mr. Paul’s spokesman, Jesse Benton, said Republican Party officials warned Paul supporters not to cause a commotion.

“There have been some overtures to our political guys and our delegates that if they acted up, they would be removed,” Mr. Benton said.

He said the Paul campaign has identified 260 delegates and hundreds of alternates to the convention who support Mr. Paul even though, by the rules of the convention, they are bound to other candidates.

Page 2

Republican officials asked the campaign for a list of those supporters, but the Paul campaign declined, Mr. Benton said.

Mr. Paul conducted his own counter-convention in Minneapolis on Tuesday and made his way through the press areas of the Republicans’ event Wednesday. But he will not visit the convention floor this week. Mr. Benton said Mr. Paul and his supporters were unable to reach an agreement on rules for his visit.

Mr. Paul, who as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas, is entitled to a pass and wanted credentials for a few staffers. But Mr. Benton said convention officials wanted to control Mr. Paul’s access and did not allow his staff on the floor, insisting that they have a party escort.