Press Gallery: Security Guards Caused Moore Disruption

By: Joe Strupp Security guards at the Republican National Convention overreacted when USA Today guest columnist Michael Moore entered Madison Square Garden Monday night and were responsible for a disruption that made it difficult for several members of the press, including Moore, to cover the proceedings, said the U.S. House Daily Press Gallery, which oversees press credentials for the convention.

The gallery conducted a review of the Monday incident, which it calls the worst case of police media control since the 1968 Chicago convention.

"It was heavy-handed. They were very highly over-reactive," said Jerry Gallegos, superintendent of the gallery. "That is what made the whole situation far worse than it needed to be."

Moore, who entered the building at about 9 p.m., was stopped several times as he made his way through the convention to a press table, where guards surrounded him. Security guards then blocked access to several rows of press tables for an hour while he remained in the building.

Gallegos, who has overseen daily press credentials for each political convention since 1972, said the guards and New York City police had no authority to stop access for Moore, or close off a press area without proper cause. "Not since 1968 in Chicago did police get this involved in media access," Gallegos told E&P Thursday. "When you have the police force telling individuals what access they are going to have, and it is not based on a safety issue, that is scary."

USA Today editors also criticized security, saying the disruption would not have occurred if they had not overreacted. "They denied reporters who had proper credentials from entering the hall, they blocked the aisles, they prevented reporters from getting to their work stations without proper cause," said Owen Ullmann, deputy editorial page editor for USA Today. "It was an overreaction by security of Moore's presence in the hall."

Gallegos said the problems began Monday night when several USA Today employees brought Moore to the Garden press entrance and attempted to give him a press pass that would provide him access into the Garden. He said guards at the entrance would not allow Moore to use the pass, saying it was non-transferable, and instead began escorting Moore into the arena.

"Those passes have always been transferable," Gallegos stressed. "They have to be because you have to have a means of accommodating the press."

Security officials than took Moore through the halls and to a very visible area inside the arena, which includes several rows of press tables just two sections above the convention floor. He was so close, he later drew boos from the crowd following a verbal critique from Sen. John McCain during his speech.

"Moore had intended to be put up in a section where he would not be noticed," Gallegos said. "Security took him to the wrong location and when the media scrum began, police ordered that area shut down and no press could go in or out.

"They should have come to us first and allowed us to do our job," Gallegos continued. "I would not have allowed them to conduct themselves in that way if I had been there."

Gallegos said USA Today had attempted to work with convention organizers early on to allow Moore to be in the building, but in a less-visible way. "USA Today had talked to the Republican Party weeks ago about any disruption Michael Moore might cause. They had an assurance with the party that they would take care of Moore and they would handle this."

On Tuesday, USA Today editors said Moore had chosen on his own not to return to the convention, but would be continuing to write his column, which has run each day since Tuesday and is set to continue through Friday. Moore sent an e-mail to E&P Tuesday saying he had not decided to stay away and might return.

The Associated Press reported that Moore had returned to the convention on Wednesday night, but had spent his time there going "from skybox to skybox" as a guest of broadcast outlets.

Ullmann of USA Today said the paper has had no problems with Moore's work and found him "great at meeting deadlines and being edited."

With President Bush's acceptance speech slated for Thursday night, Gallegos expressed concern that if the press areas get crowded, security guards and police in the arena might overreact again. "It could be a very bad situation if police feel the need to limit access or close access," he said. "We expect it to be very full."