Dan Reilly versus Amy Rice versus Free Speech
According to an official campaign statement from Republican State Representative candidate Dan Reilly (District 72, Portsmouth/Middletown/Newport) his incumbent opponent, State Representative Amy Rice, called police in response to three Reilly supporters who were holding signs on public property, across the street from a Rice campaign event…
The three campaign supporters were holding signs on the public street across from the event, clearly within their constitutional rights. After a Portsmouth Police officer arrived, he informed Rep. Rice that they were doing nothing wrong and he could not do anything to have them removed.If this is true, it’s pretty hard to disagree with this response from Mr. Reilly…
[Rep. Rice] does not even understand the first amendment of our Constitution.
Neither do BHO’s Missouri supporters. And they apparently include a prosecutor and police chiefs.
Rice’s statement should be verifiable from police logs. I’ll bet it true.
I was one of the supporters there, and I can truly attest to the fact that this is one hundred percent true!
Amy has no problem attacking Mr.Reilly and his family, but cannot allow freedom of speech?!
At this event, Amy had three guys come down to where we were and say and I quote: “State representative Amy Rice ORDERS you to shut off your vehicle” – she then shouted from about 100 feet away “I want to press charges”
Once the officer came and found My fellow supporters and I were doing NOTHING wrong, we remained until dark. We even got a wave and a thumbs up from a few attendees.
Long live freedom!
Andy,
I have to point out that mention of a vehicle being on is a new aspect of this, to me at least. Could you elaborate on that a bit?
I was driving on a public road, and was pulled over to the side (in full ordinance with all parking regulations)to get out of the car to get my signs etc. It was raining and a long long walk to annette drive, where this was taking place.
I was getting out of my car and being “ORDERED” (thats a direct quote) to shut my car off and get out of the car. What an abuse of power!!
Again, I was in my “full legal and constitutional rights” – as the police officer said to Rice, her followers, and myself.
Other than Nancy Pelosi, Amy Rice may be the only female elected representative that can make Hillary Clinton appear to be warm and engaging.
This is practice by a woman hoping to be a local commissar in the new world of Obamillusion.The greatest oppressors have always come along bearing messages of peace and freedom.
Of course,if they have commissars,David Segal might actually find employment.
Nancy polosi is the most evil woman in america..
This polo playing woman from portsmouth is irritating – she votes with the speaker what?? 90%+ of the time? She is such a follower, who cares if reilly is 18? Change is change and portsmouth needs a CHANGE!
Or the elderly woman thrown out of a John McCain event,on public property becauce she was wearing a tee shirt that said MCCAIN = BUSH
both parties are GUILTY of this crap
Not something I would have done, Fred Phelps, but the McCain event presumably took place on private property. Rep Rice was attempting to order people to leave a PUBLIC street.
And she was doing so in order to shut them up. So just as Steve “First Amendment” Alves is leaving the stage, along comes someone to carry on his virulent anti-free speech, bully-the-citizen legacy. Very nice.
She sent three guys over to intimidate her opponent’s supporters and then herself shouted a threat to them?? The people involved in this incident should seriously consider asking the ACLU or a free-speech attorney to take legal action against Rep Rice. It would have been bad enough if this had been done by a non-incumbent opposition candidate. But Ms. Rice is a sitting state representative. She clearly abused her official power for a personal purpose, not once but at least twice. That’s a major no-no and should be promptly and vigorously discouraged.
Andy,
Thanks for elaborating. If I understand you properly, the person who “ordered” you out of your car was not a police officer, correct?
That is correct, it was her supporters and her husband.. I would love to begin talking to a lawyer about this if possible.. I didnt get the guys names, but i have ALL their license plates, so we could find it out.. where do we go from here?
She not only abused her power, she told the police she and her supporters saw us doing illegal things, threatened us, and then had the audacity to come outside, (with a child in her arms) screaming to try to start and argument.
It was down right embarassing for her constituants of the 72nd district.. truly embarassing..
please feel free to let me know how i should handle this please!!
Whats the deal with this woman???
Did she really have so little going at her fundraiser she spent the night taunting a bunch of college students?
Hasnt she refused to meet Reilly for an open forum debate???
I remember that he challenged her back in April and several times since then.
I would LOVE to attend an event with the two of them.
Amy Rice voted for a $140 million dollar courthouse in Simthfield when the oldest courthouse in the state(Newport)needs repairs.
She talks about budget reform but votes with the speaker 94% of the time.
This is the same woman who is more concerned about naming a bridge that wont be built until 2011 while the weight limit on the current bridge is constantly being lowered.
She has openly admitted she dreams of being governor and has modeled her political career after Elizabeth Roberts. Elizabeth Roberts proves if you vote with the leadership, keep your mouth quiet you can advance in Rhode Island politics.
The bottom line is that my family cant afford Amy anymore.
She needs to stop writing worthless grants and fix out budget!
Andy, I am not, repeat, not an attorney so take this with a grain of salt. But the telephone number of the RI ACLU is 831-7171. Just for the heck of it, you may want to talk to someone there.
If they decline to get involved, you guys may want to request a formal written report of the incident from the police – who, by the way, did an excellent job in handling this incident and are to be commended for a.) knowing the law b.) enforcing it and c.) enforcing it in the face of an out of control state representative. [That last cannot have been easy.]
If you get a formal police report, you have a couple of options. You can at a minimum post it on Dan Reilly’s website as Exhibit A in the case against his opponent. Or you can approach some other media with it to see if they are interested. Actually, this is an option without the police report; it’s just better if you have something formal in hand. I’d try both radio and television, though one outlet at a time. Doesn’t Helen Glover actually live in Portsmouth? So she might be especially interested. Below is her webpage and contact info on 920 WHJJ.
http://www.920whjj.com/pages/helen.html
[Feel free to disregard any or all of these suggestions.]
Check out Rep.Rice on Capitol TV when the GA is in session-she has a nasty,arrogant look on her face and it comes through in her demeanor.
I don’t know what’s up with Portsmouth.
Charles Levesque is from there too,and he is an arrogant walking compost heap.
Not to mention a buttboy for Steven Brown and the ACLU.
I will be contacting the police, ACLU and the media in the near future. I will keep you all updated on this. Also, I am hoping to protest another fundraiser of hers and see how poorly she handles it.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give us as much support as possible!! We can get this nazi out of power !!
Too bad nobody had a video camera with them – it would’ve made a great YouTube …
While it is clear that Ms. Rice should not sit in the House of Representatives or on any elected or public body, she is not a Nazi.
Andy, keep us posted. One other thing. If an organization declines to get involved, make a note of the reason and pass that along as well.
I don’t know Amy Rice, but if she’s attracting this kind of bile, she must be doing something right.
Sorry for the nazi comment, just a joke.. and should be taken as such!! no offense to anyone
I don’t know Amy Rice, but if she’s attracting this kind of bile, she must be doing something right.”
Yeah, from your standpoint.
She’s a rubber stamp for the unions.
Buys in to the whole poverty pimp agenda.
Kisses the behinds of leadership (unless the union bosses tell her to do otherwise).
She’s got “Future Magistrate” written all over her.
Rhody, the representative sent staffers/volunteers to intimidate her opponent’s supporters and used her official power to attempt to order people off public streets. From your comment, then, you condone these actions?
One question:
Have the parents of 18-year old candidate Dan Reilly paid the 1 million dollars in back taxes they owe the taxpayers of Rhode Island?
I am sure the students who are losing art, sports, and computer classes because of cuts to education aid would love to know.
Oh, one thing I DO KNOW about the First Amendment is that it does not include the right to not pay taxes.
Matt:
Mr. Reilly’s parents do not owe the State any taxes – the Newport Daily News ran an article a month and a half ago and it explained the entire situation.
The state made an error in 1996 and contended that Mr. Reilly’s parents owed taxes on money earned outside of the state. The case is currently being adjudicated – though the State Tax Administrator has not taken any enforcement action, as they are prevented from doing so by a Supreme Court case.
This has been refuted many times, but the liberal blogs like to talk about it because Rice is their hero – and she is a train wreck any time she is let out in the light of day – although she isn’t much better at night, as illustrated by this last incident.
Murphy should keep his pocket votes in the closet where they belong.
Matt, the liberals are just scared because any time Reilly gets in a room he gets votes – any time Rice is in a room they want to kill her.
It’s simple, Matt:
Reilly is liked, and people understand that he knows the issues better than people older than him.
Rice is not well-liked, and the only reason she was re-elected over Robitaille two years ago is that Democrats came out of the woodwork to vote on the casino and straight-ticket Democrat.
Shame on you and anyone else who, for the purposes of defending Rep. Rice and her actions, is forced to throw mud on the parents of her opponent. You wouldn’t if you weren’t so scared about a YOUNG REPUBLICAN getting elected!
Matt,
Your website is everything that is wrong with Rhode Island and this country. You represent the tax and spend politics that has gotten us into the mess that we are in.
Have you ever taken a class in economics???
You dont solve a financial crisis by raising taxes.
I know your days must be long defending state representitives like Eva Braun of the 72nd district but come on get a clue.
You unpatriotic liberal swine, you wont be happy untill you have two hands in my wallet.
You are all elitist scum and should be ashamed of yourselves for picking on 19 year old Dan Reilly.
I am going to donate $1,000 from my kids college fund to help him beat Rice.
I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE to contribute ANYTHING you can to the Reilly campaign. Even $20 bucks.
WE CANNOT LET OUR STATE GO ANY FURTHER DOWN THE TOILET!
Typical uninformed liberal… Keep watching your MSNBC and the Communist News Network.
How can i get involved at the next Rice event?
Matt,
I know you and Amy Rice are very close (of course I have no proof of anything untoward), but really, what do the actions of anyone’s parents have to do with that of their child? Would you want the corporate actions of your potato chip making father held against you?
There has never been final adjudication of that particular tax case. You as a law student know that, yet choose to ignore the facts in an attempt to score cheap political points. From what I’ve read of the law about the matter, his parents have nothing to worry about — they don’t owe a dime to Rhode Island. Despite your delusions of blog-induced grandeur, you’re nothing more than a smear merchant, pure and simple. Get over yourself!
I find it amazing that a well-spoken and hard-working 19 year old college student can run rings around a very well-connected insider on virtually any subject of interest to Rhode Islanders. Amy Rice is an embarrassment to all Rhode Islanders, not just the residents of Portsmouth. It’s no wonder Amy Rice specializes in Equine Law, because so much of what she says is unadulterated horse crap.
Hey fiction readers, why don’t you check out the police report for the day in question. It will tell you that Rice’s husband saw a vehicle, jeep wrangler with 2 reilly signs & 8 of his bumper stickers 1& presto 15 minutes later parked next to it (on practically a deadend street), then all of a sudden, as if magic, Rice’s sign disappeared and then the other appeared.
Rice never told anyone to tell anyone to do anything including the retired officer who told them to stay there until the police arrived.
Rice never contacted the state about signs until AFTER hers were taken by them, which was in response to reilly putting his in obnoxious places, and only to get hers back.
Get your facts straight fellas on this & all the rest.
And sticks & stones too 😉
And to clarify:
1-police were called for the theft, not for the weird loitering which I didn’t give a hoot about except that I saw how foolish my opponent is;
2-I never did 1 single thing to reilly or his family, except welcome him to the district
3-I told reilly I’d debate him hafter his demand that I do so three times on his terms. He chose not to show for the 1st.
So you can all live in lala land but these are facts.
And Dan tell your paid staff or loyal buddies not to yell while driving by my house. You all may not care about anything but at least don’t disturb my young son.
We are running for the same office, why act like you’re even younger than 19?
Wow,.. How nice it must be to be to have so much free time from voting with your party 92% of the time.. Maybe you would have been ontime for last nights event instead of chasing your own gossip.
Also – Amy throwing in “disturbing your son”, CLASSY move.
Was it the same child you had in your arms when you cam outside to shout at the protestors??
P.S. Amy – did the police ever find any of those missing signs??
present. Place her on her back so the rain may beat in her face. She 21:4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death The last word and the funny tone in which it was uttered were too much