Video: Eggs tossed at Tea Party Express bus
March 29, 2010 - 10:31 pm
Video: Eggs tossed at Tea Party Express bus
Conservative media personality Andrew Breitbart posted this video late Monday showing one of the rowdier moments at the "Showdown in Searchlight."
The video shows Breitbart, who spoke at the Tea Party Express rally on Saturday, in the middle of a group of Harry Reid supporters, when eggs start flying at the Tea Party Express bus.
The camera is pointed at the bus, not the crowd, when the eggs fly into the frame so it doesn't show who threw them.
But it does appear they came from the direction of a crowd of people gathered to support Reid.
Later, a man carrying a Harry Reid sign says in reference to Breitbart: "Get him out of here or I'm going to jail today."
Two other demonstrators get between the man and Breitbart in an attempt to bring down the tension and calm the situation.
Breitbart says the incident illustrates one of his points, that left-leaning folks get rowdy when protesting Tea Party events yet it is the Tea Party attendees who are painted as potentially dangerous.
In another video on Breitbart's Web site, Breitbart discusses the egg-throwing and confrontation with a law enforcement officer.
In that conversation, Breitbart accuses the mainstream media of inaccurately portraying Tea Party enthusiasts as prone to violence and abusive behavior while covering up ugly acts by anti-Tea Party protesters.
In the second video Breitbart says to the officer: "I've come here as a peaceful citizen to express myself, to use the first amendment to my benefit to express my grievances against this government. And the idea these people are here to try and intimidate me is deeply offensive. That the mainstream media refuses to cover it is even more offensive."
Before the "Showdown in Searchlight" Nevada State Democratic Party spokeswoman Phoebe Sweet was quoted urging Democratic demonstrators to be polite.
"We've been real clear with our volunteers to tell them that they should not engage the Tea Party people. The whole point is not to be confrontational," Sweet said before the event.