Will Fox & Friends set story straight on NH town hall?

Over two days, Fox & Friends hosts claim man ejected "at the direction" of Shea-Porter because "he did not have the correct ticket to speak"

From the August 31 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

STEVE DOOCY (co-host): All right. Let's talk about another member of Congress. Representative Carol Shea-Porter, she represents a district up in New Hampshire. She had a town hall in Portsmouth on Saturday. A hundred and fifty people were there. And it's interesting -- we're going to play a little bit of the video -- and there she is right there. She had a guy ejected -- that man right there, ejected. Apparently, he did not have the correct ticket to speak. Extraordinarily, this man is a retired police officer. And he brought this up after he pointed out that the guy who was just standing up in the purple shirt, a member of the SEIU union -- questioned whether or not that guy should even be there, whether he was a resident of the district or of the state. Michelle?

MICHELLE MALKIN (Fox News contributor and conservative columnist and blogger): Yeah. And I think that what this shows is how incapable so many of these town hall conveners have been in taking the heat. They can't take the heat, which is why they take refuge in union offices, which is why they have the purple shirts there protecting them from the rough-and-tumble world of answering to their own constituents. And, you know, look: You go back to your home town, it's not going to be like debating on the House floor, where there are Robert's Rules of Order. But there she is with her SEIU enforcers, ejecting people who are simply challenging her.

GRETCHEN CARLSON (co-host): I think interesting to me was that apparently she was an anti-war activist who may have been at a few protests herself. So, to me, that's even more startling. I mean, if you've done this in your life in another capacity, then why would you hold others who are doing it now responsible? I mean, it's just freedom of speech, right?

MALKIN: That's -- well, for imperial members of Congress, it is. It's rowdiness for me, but not for thee.

DOOCY: But just to eject a guy, a former police officer, simply -- who spoke because he didn't have a ticket? That's crazy.

MALKIN: And because he was calling out one of her union thugs. That's the bottom line.

From the September 1 edition of Fox & Friends:

ALISYN CAMEROTA (guest co-host): The man in that clip is a retired police officer and a 27-year veteran of the armed forces. He was removed from the room at the direction of the congresswoman, but why?

Carl Tomanelli joins us live from Boston, Massachusetts. Carl, thanks so much for being here. That was a raucous meeting that you were involved in. And what we could hear you saying was, these people are organized, but on the other side. They were organized, you think, by the congresswoman. Tell us more about this.

[...]

TOMANELLI: And in any event, when I asked my question -- and I guess it was just the wrong question. If you look at the tapes, you will see that in an atmosphere such as this, where emotions are high -- I mean, this is a very, very serious topic -- everybody was talking out. The way it was conducted was like on a kindergarten-type environment.

KILMEADE: Right.

TOMANELLI: You were not assured that you were going to ask a question.

KILMEADE: Gotcha.

TOMANELLI: People had --

KILMEADE: Karl, we're gonna --

TOMANELLI: -- a lot of --

KILMEADE: Right. Have a lot of anger and a lot to say, and there were -- and by the union guys who were called on, and they were filibustering, not letting you guys talk. We're going to try to get that clip and put it on FoxAndFriends.com so everybody will have a chance to review it and perhaps come to the conclusion that you did, and that is that you were blocked. Congressman Shea-Porter -- she's going to be up for election. Keep that in mind.

[...]

DOOCY: Jon, before you go. I know there were two different --

JON DICKINSON (town hall attendee): Sure.

DOOCY: -- town halls: the one you were at, and then the one that -- we had a retired New York City police officer on the show about an hour and a half ago who said that he --

DICKINSON: Right. I met him. He's a character.

DOOCY: He is a character. He simply asked her a question and because he did not have a ticket, he wound up being escorted out of the room.

NH media report: Man was ejected after repeatedly disturbing meeting

New Hampshire Union Leader: Tomanelli "[r]emoved ... because he continually interrupted Shea-Porter and others." The day before Doocy claimed Shea-Porter "had a guy ejected" because "he did not have the correct ticket to speak," the New Hampshire Union Leader reported:

Removed from the forum because he continually interrupted Shea-Porter and others in Manchester was Carl Tomanelli of Londonderry, who objected when her staff passed out health care stickers before the event began.

He claimed the stickers would be used to alert Shea-Porter to supporters. Later he told the New Hampshire Sunday News: "I'm not in favor of any health care reform Carol Shea-Porter is not a part of. If they want me to support it, I have to have the same health care as (U.S. Sen.) Orrin Hatch, or Ted Kennedy or (Christopher) Dodd."

He also objected that people outside Shea-Porter's Congressional district were in the room, including a young man who could not vote. He noted there were out-of-state license plates around the building. "It's a joke," Tomanelli said.

Police lieutenant said Shea-Porter did not tell police to eject Tomanelli

Lt. Barry: Tomanelli was "very disruptive" during meeting, "continuously interrupted people." In a statement, Lt. William Barry of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, who had attended the town meeting "in the capacity of helping out with security for the Federal Protection Service," said: "Towards the end of the meeting, Mr. Carl Tomanelli was escorted out of the meeting. Mr. Tomanelli was very disruptive throughout the meeting and was told repeatedly to quiet down. He continuously interrupted people who were asking questions or making statements that he didn't agree with." [Blog of Andrew Cline, editorial page editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader, 9/3/09]

Lt. Barry: Shea-Porter did not ask Tomanelli to be removed. Barry further stated: "At no time did Representative Shea-Porter advise an officer to escort Mr. Tomanelli from the building."

Transcript

From the September 1 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

CAMEROTA: The man in that clip is a retired police officer and a 27-year veteran of the armed forces. He was removed from the room at the direction of the congresswoman, but why?

Carl Tomanelli joins us live from Boston, Massachusetts. Carl, thanks so much for being here. That was a raucous meeting that you were involved in. And what we could hear you saying was, these people are organized, but on the other side. They were organized, you think, by the congresswoman. Tell us more about this.

TOMANELLI: Well, when we arrived, my wife and our friends, there was a large line already gathering, and the people on line had, if you will, marshals, you know, positioning them in line. They had professional signs. And --

CAMEROTA: And they were signs supporting health care. These were people who were in favor of it?

TOMANELLI: Oh, yes. Absolutely. And, you know, I would -- what bothered me was that, you know, as this email indicates from Congressman -- Congresswoman Sue Kelly's off-- Congresswoman Shea-Porter's --

CAMEROTA: Shea-Porter?

TOMANELLI: -- office -- yeah -- that, you know, this was a meeting that was supposed to be held --

KILMEADE: Right.

TOMANELLI: -- on the manner of health care reform for people of the 1st District. Now, when you approached these people and asked if they were from District 1, they wouldn't respond. They wouldn't talk to you. They wouldn't say anything. There were people on that line that physically looked only as young as high school age but certainly not voters.

KILMEADE: Right. So you --

TOMANELLI: And really didn't have any business there.

KILMEADE: Carl, so you never --

TOMANELLI: And --

KILMEADE: You never got your answer, correct? You never got the answer --

TOMANELLI: Oh, absol--

KILMEADE: -- whether these people were from the area or not.

TOMANELLI: Absolutely not. There was -- and I wish to say this -- and by the way, I am a retired police officer, and I'm from the greatest police department in the world, New York City.

KILMEADE: No argument.

TOMANELLI: Thank you. And in any event, when I asked my question -- and I guess it was just the wrong question. If you look at the tapes, you will see that in an atmosphere such as this, where emotions are high -- I mean, this is a very, very serious topic -- everybody was talking out. The way it was conducted was like on a kindergarten-type environment.

KILMEADE: Right.

TOMANELLI: You were not assured that you were going to ask a question.

KILMEADE: Gotcha.

TOMANELLI: People had --

KILMEADE: Karl, we're gonna --

TOMANELLI: -- a lot of --

KILMEADE: Right. Have a lot of anger and a lot to say, and there were -- and by the union guys who were called on, and they were filibustering, not letting you guys talk. We're going to try to get that clip and put it on FoxAndFriends.com so everybody will have a chance to review it and perhaps come to the conclusion that you did, and that is that you were blocked. Congressman Shea-Porter -- she's going to be up for election. Keep that in mind.

[...]

DOOCY: Jon, before you go. I know there were two different --

JON DICKINSON (town hall attendee): Sure.

DOOCY: -- town halls: the one you were at, and then the one that -- we had a retired New York City police officer on the show about an hour and a half ago who said that he --

DICKINSON: Right. I met him. He's a character.

DOOCY: He is a character. He simply asked her a question and because he did not have a ticket, he wound up being escorted out of the room.