The July 7th Sherman-Reed Incident

In previous blogs, I mentioned a town hall meeting by Rep. Brad Sherman, D-CA, that had an incident involving Republican challenger Mark Reed.

Mark Reed, left and Brad Sherman, below.



At that meeting in a Jewish temple, Reed attended and remained quiet and unobtrusive and watched the presentation. Towards the end of the meeting, Reed was accosted by Temple security (some armed), Sherman staffers and the LAPD. Brad Sherman's mother also joined the fray at one point yelling at Reed, "You don't belong here! You're a bad man!"

Reed's crime? Just being there.

I am not a fan of the Huffington Post (quite the opposite, actually), but there is an article in it from an eyewitness to the whole proceedings. It is titled, "Brad Sherman's Middle East Town Hall Rife With Fear and Aggression" by Linda Milazzo, a "writer, educator, activist." (Her description.)

In one of my blog posts on the meeting, I described it as a usage of "Gestapo tactics" (borrowing a 1968 line from Sen. Abraham Ribicoff at the Democratic National Convention). Some didn't like the term when I used it, but I think it makes the point of the tone of the meeting and the intimidating tactics employed that night against Reed and other attendees.

Milazzo's article is a must-read if you are concerned about who is elected next month in the 27th Congressional District.

In her article, she wrote of the Reed incident. Here's Milazzo's account:

Here are the two telling examples of fear and aggression from incidents on Wednesday night:

The first involves Mark Reed, Brad Sherman's Republican opponent, who won his Republican primary handily. Sherman won't debate Reed, although I believe he should. Reed is a 40% Native American, self-described "conservative Constitutionalist who happens to be Republican." Reed is also a staunch supporter of Israel, who amazingly, believes he's a stronger supporter of Israel than Sherman - if that's possible. Reed is not Jewish.

Reed attended the town hall Wednesday evening and caused no disruption. At the end of the event he exited and entered the synagogue courtyard where he was met by Temple security who asked him to leave the premises and escorted him to the street where he was then met by LAPD officers, who threatened to arrest him if he didn't leave the area. Reed left, but has since filed a complaint against the LAPD officer.

Thus far, Sherman has not issued any kind of apology for the incident (not that anyone really expects him to).

I urge you to read Milazzo's article before you vote next month. To read it, go here.