On July 17, Dick Cheney visited Davenport, Iowa to attend a fundraiser for House candidate Mike Whalen. A group called Progressive Action for the Common Good of the Quad Cities decided to stage a protest near the fundraiser site, got permission to assemble, and showed up with signs and small American flags.
When they arrived at the protest site, the protesters were stopped by police officers and told they would have to hand over their American flags because the sticks could pose a danger to Cheney. Also, one of the protesters had a large peace flag on a pole, which was also confiscated by the police.
According to a report, the police were quite polite when they took away the flags, but things turned a bit sour when a photographer from the Quad City Times began taking pictures. He was warned by a police officer not to take any pictures of the officer and his partner. However, after talking with his supervisor, the police officer was informed that the news media was allowed to take photographs of news events. I’m sure it came as a shock to him to learn this.
Here are some of the dangerous protesters in Davenport, before they had their weapons taken from them.
