<snip> The Battle for the White House got increasingly violent on Tuesday following 17 AFL-CIO-sponsored protests of Bush/Cheney campaign headquarters across the country during which there were a number of small confrontations. The protestors, drawn from an amalgam of unions, were delivering signed protest petitions opposing the new overtime rules signed into law this year.
In Florida, an employee of the state GOP broke his wrist at campaign headquarters in Orlando when he tried to prevent an estimated 100 protestors from entering the office. The worker struggled with one of the protestors, who was trying to keep the door open, and had to call police before they would leave. In Ohio, an office worker at the Bush/Cheney HQ in Niles reportedly shoved a nurse who was trying to deliver her petition, according to that nurse, and barred a priest from entering the office. Gunshots also shattered a plate glass window at the Bush/Cheney office in Knoxville, Tenn., but there is not any evidence linking the shooting to the protest.
Responding to these protests, Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) wrote a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft asking him to investigate these incidents. The letter has 50 co-signers.
Violent confrontations had not marred the campaign trail so far this year, but Tuesday's protests set an ominous tone for the final weeks of the campaign. <snip> http://www.thehill.com/e_news/subscription.asp ==========================================