Protests include N-word, spitting

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This article was published 20/3/2010 (3258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASHINGTON — House Democrats heard it all Saturday — words of inspiration from U.S. President Barack Obama and raucous chants of protests from demonstrators. At times it was ugly, including some racial epithets aimed at black members of Congress.

Most of the day's work leading up to today's vote on health care was being done behind closed doors. Democratic leaders cajoled and bargained to nail down the votes needed to finally push Obama's health-care bill through the House. But much else about the day was noisy, emotional and right out in the open. After more than a year debating the capstone of Obama's domestic agenda and just hours to go before the showdown vote, there was little holding back.

The tone was set outside the Capitol. Clogging the sidewalks and streets of Capitol Hill were at least hundreds of loud, furious protesters. Rallies outside the Capitol are typically orderly, with well-behaved crowds. Saturday's was different, with anger-fuelled demonstrators surrounding members of Congress who walked by, yelling at them.

"Kill the bill," the largely middle-aged crowd shouted, surging toward lawmakers who crossed the street between their offices and the Capitol. The motorcade that carried Obama to Capitol Hill to whip up support for the bill drove past crowds waving signs that read "Stop the spending" and "Get your hands out of my pocketbook and health care." Many booed and thrust their thumbs down as Obama rode by.

Rep. Andre Carson told a reporter that as he left an office building with Rep. John Lewis, a leader of the civil-rights era, some among the crowd chanted "the N-word, the N-word, 15 times." Both Carson and Lewis are black, and Lewis spokeswoman Brenda Jones also said it occurred.

"It was like going into the time machine with John Lewis," said Carson, a large former police officer who said he wasn't frightened but worried about the 70-year-old Lewis, who is twice his age. "He said it reminded him of another time."

Kristie Greco, spokeswoman for Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn said a protester spat on Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who is black, and said police escorted lawmakers into the Capitol.

Clyburn, who led fellow black students in integrating South Carolina's public facilities a half-century ago, called the behaviour "absolutely shocking."

"I heard people saying things today that I have not heard since March 15, 1960, when I was marching to try to get off the back of the bus," Clyburn told reporters.

Inside House office buildings, protesters made their views known by visiting lawmakers and chanting at them.

Among the demonstrators was Delane Stewart, 65. "You know what's coming next if this happens?" she said, referring to the health bill's passage. "They're going to come after gun control."

At a meeting of the House Rules Committee, members of both parties traded accusations in a session that was often a shouting match. Obama's Capitol Hill visit was the day's emotional peak for House Democrats as he sought to energize them to finally approve the legislation.

He conceded it could be tough for some to vote for the bill, but predicted it would pass.

"It is in your hands," he said in what Clyburn called the best speech he'd ever heard Obama make.

 

— The Associated Press