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Posted July 18, 2004 Appleton official ejected from Bush event By Ed Lowe APPLETON - Outagamie County Supv. Jayson Nelson might be new to politics,
but he already can attest to the price of freedom of speech. Nelson, who joined the County Board this year, said he got bounced from
the VIP list for President Bush's speech Wednesday at the Resch Center
in Ashwaubenon because of inappropriate attire. Nelson said he was ejected after being caught sporting a T-shirt endorsing
the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, though he said it was
fully hidden beneath a heavy cotton button-down shirt. Whether betrayed by a Republican informant or by a dash of Kerry green
above the buttons, Nelson found himself plucked from the line and ordered
to shed his outer shirt. "I don't know if it was because of the way I was dressed,"
he said. "I work construction so I wasn't as dressed up like some
of the other people." Once exposed, the female election worker who singled Nelson out snatched
the VIP ticket from his hand and called for police, he said. "Look at his shirt! Look at his shirt!" Nelson recalled the
woman telling the Ashwaubenon Public Safety officer who answered the call.
Nelson said the officer told him, "You gotta go," and sternly
directed him to a Secret Service contingent that spent seven or eight
minutes checking him over before ejecting him from the property. Nelson, who characterizes himself as a Democrat but not a card-carrying
one, emerged from the experience "disgusted" and confused. "I kept asking, did I do something illegal? I was told no (by the
Secret Service agents), but that they'd do the same thing at a Kerry rally."
Nelson said he sought to attend the speech because he "wanted to
hear what (Bush) had to say," not to make a political statement.
Still, he didn't discount the possibility that the T-shirt might have
gotten exposure inside the center. Nelson got the ticket through his own political ties - a number were
made available to interested members of the County Board. Lt. Dave Mather of the Ashwaubenon Public Safety Department said he wasn't
familiar with Nelson's experience or the legal justification for his removal.
"I really don't have any idea, and I'd be guessing if I said so,"
Mather said. A department release said "no large-scale incidents were reported"
during the president's visit to the village. Ashwaubenon police ticketed
a pair of men for disorderly conduct, one for allegedly throwing a water
bottle at a passing bus in the presidential motorcade and another for
making a lewd gesture to the pro-Bush crowd. Nelson's ejection wasn't mentioned in the release. "I was told that no law was broken," Nelson said, "but
I was nearly treated like a criminal for the terrible crime of wearing
a T-shirt." Ed Lowe can be reached at 920-993-1000, ext. 293, or by e-mail at elowe@postcrescent.com
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