GOP Convention, Tampa, Florida
This is an update to a blog post this blogger originally posted at Examiner.com. Just before the main speeches of Ann Romney, the wife of Presumptive GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christy, what is now identified as a racist act by not one, but two GOP delegates was detailed as one throwing nuts at an African American CNN camerawoman and saying “This is how we feed animals.”
The incident was first reported via Twitter, and by David Shuster of Take Action News. Here’s his tweet:
GOP attendee ejected for throwing nuts at African American CNN camera woman + saying “This is how we feed animals.”
@takeactionnews#TAN— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) August 29, 2012
The confirmation of the action was done by Talking Points Memo’s (TPM) Kyle Leighton, who identified the offending man as a “GOP delegate”. Mr. Leighton reached out to CNN, which did confirm the incident, and then issued this statement:
“CNN can confirm there was an incident directed at an employee inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum earlier this afternoon. CNN worked with convention officials to address this matter and will have no further comment.”
TPM then reported that it’s calls to Republican National Convention (RNC) and Tampa convention officials were not returned.
Thus, the general consensus was that one person was responsible for the harassment on the black CNN camerawoman. But then, POLITICO issued an update which pointed to not one, but two GOP delegates:
UPDATE: GOP convention spokesman Kyle Downey tells POLITICO, “Two attendees tonight exhibited deplorable behavior. Their conduct was inexcusable and unacceptable. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated.”
That not one, but two GOP delegates is doubly shocking. The question is, who were they? What state did they represent? Were they white supremacists? Are there others in the GOP delegation who have committed racist actions toward blacks at the RNC 2012?
This is a shameful moment for the Republican National Convention.
Stay tuned.
