http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0904-02.htmPublished on Saturday, September 4, 2004 by the San Francisco Chronicle
Crashing the Party was Surprisingly Easy, Activists Say
Convention floor passes snagged from friends of friends of friends
by Anna Badkhen
NEW YORK -- More than 10,000 New York City cops, high-tech weapons and 60 federal agencies kept terrorists from disturbing the Republican convention, but they couldn't stop a few activists from disrupting the events on the convention floor.
Whether they snagged a delegate pass, borrowed a media credential or posed as GOP volunteers, activists easily slipped through multiple ID checks and a metal detector at Madison Square Garden -- including two from the women-led peace group Code Pink who disrupted President Bush's speech Thursday night. Some who attended a tribute to first lady Laura Bush at a Manhattan hotel earlier in the week said security personnel didn't even check their bags.
Secret Service spokeswoman Ann Roman said she did not know how activists got the passes into the convention center. Roman said the activists were arrested because they made "threatening movements" aimed at convention delegates or "said threatening things" about the delegates.
"They were apparently causing a disruption," she said.
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