A Colorado man filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday accusing a Secret Service agent of arresting him on trumped-up allegations of assaulting Vice President Dick Cheney after he told Cheney the administration's policies in Iraq were "reprehensible."
The lawsuit said Howards saw Cheney in a crowd, shaking hands and posing for photos. He said he walked to within 3 feet of Cheney and told him, "I think your policies in Iraq are reprehensible," and then left. In an interview, Howards said he may have touched Cheney on the elbow or shoulder, like others in the crowd did.
----
Minutes later, when he was returning through the area, Secret Service agent Virgil D. "Gus" Reichle Jr. questioned him, handcuffed him and told him he would be charged with assaulting the vice president, the lawsuit said. When Reichle took him to the Eagle County jail, however, he told deputies to issue him a summons on a state charge of harassment, the lawsuit said. Howards said the harassment charge was dropped less than a month later at the request of the district attorney.
---
It was at least the second lawsuit filed in Colorado by people who say they were singled out for criticizing the administration. Three people who were kicked out of President Bush's town hall meeting in Denver in March 2003 alleged they were told to leave because of a "No blood for oil" bumper sticker on their car.
--MORE--
No comments:
Post a Comment