Now Hampshire: Portsmouth PD Removed CSP

The on going saga of whether CSP was or wasn’t removed from a 2005 Bush town hall meeting, took an interesting turn.  Now Hampshire is reporting that two Portsmouth police officers did indeed remove CSP from the now infamous 2005 town hall.

Two officers of the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Police Department removed Carol Shea-Porter and Susan Mayer from a February 2005 town hall event hosted by then-President George W. Bush at the request of the owner of the property, a spokesman for the Police Department tells NowHampshire.com.

The revelation contradicts statements made by Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter as recently as this week that she was not removed from the event.

“[T]here were no disruptions and no rudeness and I wasn’t removed. If it happened, don’t you think there would have been photos or video or news stories from that day? There aren’t because it didn’t happen,” Shea-Porter told the Portsmouth Herald this weekend.

Shea-Porter was not a member of Congress at the time.

According to Capt. Tim Brownell, who responded to a Freedom of Information request from NowHampshire.com, Detective Sergeant Michael Ronchi and Detective Tom Grella removed the two women from the Pan Am hanger of the Portsmouth International Airport in Portsmouth, NH after being asked to do so by a representative of Pan Am.

“Basically [Ronchi and Grella] were asked by the property owner to remove Ms. Shea-Porter and Ms. Mayer from the building, not by name, but they were asked by the owner of that private property to remove them. They did leave. There were no significant incidents and no reports were done,” Captain Brownell told NowHampshire.com.

This contradicts CSP’s recent flip that she was not removed from the same town hall meeting.  Prior to her denial that she was removed from the town hall meeting, she traveled around the state touting being removed like a drunk from a bar.

NHGOP has also issued the following statement today calling on CSP to apologize to the residents of the 1st District for her flip on this issue:

PORTSMOUTH P.D.

DEBUNKS SHEA-PORTER’S

BOGUS BUSH TOWN

HALL TALE

NHGOP Calls On Shea-Porter To Apologize For Calling Police Officer Who Removed Her From A 2005 Bush Town Hall  A “Thug”

CONCORD – In an interview with NowHampshire.com (10/1/09) Portsmouth Police Captain Tim Brownell debunked Carol Shea-Porter’s fraudulent claim that she wasn’t ejected from a 2005 town hall meeting hosted by then-President George W. Bush. Despite numerous dishonest denials from the Congresswoman over the last week, Captain Brownell confirmed that Ms. Shea-Porter was removed from the event by two Portsmouth Police officers. In an interview that appeared in Saturday’s Portsmouth Herald Ms. Shea-Porter referred to the official who removed her from the President’s town hall meeting as a “thug.”

“Carol Shea-Porter needs to finally admit that she has been misleading her constituents with her intentionally dishonest attempts to rewrite history,” said NHGOP Communications Director Ryan Williams. “Ms. Shea-Porter’s outrageous and offensive comments about the officers who removed her from the 2005 town hall meeting are unbecoming of a United States Congresswoman. She must immediately apologize for insulting the Portsmouth Police Department and embarrassing the First District with such shameful and disgraceful behavior.”

According to Captain Brownell, Ms. Shea-Porter was removed from the town hall meeting by Detective Sergeant Michael Ronchi and Detective Tom Grella. In a story that ran in the Herald last week, Shea-Porter dishonestly claimed that she “wasn’t removed from the event,” and pretended that she only remembers “having a confrontation with a Bush supporter after the event.”

Despite being confronted with numerous 2005 news reports that confirmed her removal – including a story in the Portsmouth Herald (11/23/05)  and an interview with the Denver Post (4/26/05) in which Ms. Shea-Porter claimed she was “tossed” like “a drunk being thrown out of a bar” – the Congresswoman refused to admit that she was ejected.

Instead of owning up to her dishonesty and admitting her mistake, Ms. Shea-Porter claimed that she couldn’t “explain the discrepancy of news stories” and proceeded to attack the Portsmouth Herald’s reporting. The Congresswoman accused the Herald of reporting incorrect information in its 2005 story about the Bush town hall even though numerous reports from other media organizations, including the Associated Press, backed up the paper’s story.

In 2009, Congresswoman Shea-Porter has gone out of her way to avoid unrestricted, face-to-face contact with New Hampshire voters. She has repeatedly used vulgar and offensive epithets to refer to First District residents who disagree with her support for a government takeover of health care. Ms. Shea-Porter has also held controlled and highly restricted forums that limited the ability of her constituents to ask questions about her ruinous fiscal agenda. At one of her events a retired police officer was ejected after he voiced his opposition to Ms. Shea-Porter’s policies.

CLICK HERE TO READ WHAT POLITICAL ACTIVIST SHEA-PORTER TOLD THE PORTSMOUTH HERALD IN 2005

CLICK HERE TO READ WHAT CONGRESSWOMAN SHEA-PORTER TOLD THE PORTSMOUTH HERALD IN 2009