The Fort Lauderdale Tea Party has been protesting peacefully on the corner of Federal Highway and Oakland Park Blvd for 38 weeks (a record as far as I know). This past weekend they were protesting against amnesty for illegal aliens; while on the opposite corner of the street a pro-amnesty group set up shop.
The video below shows the opposite side of the street from the Tea Party protest (I know because I live here in Lauderdale). I have no idea what the gentlemen who were accosted were doing mingling with the pro-amnesty protesters at the start of the video (perhaps filming them from what I have been told), but the video shows assault and battery. I am hesitant to "rush to judgment" but based on the fact that this ongoing protest has been friendly and peaceful, for each weekend, over such a long period of time, leads me to the conclusion that this was an instigated event.
Disclaimer: I was not present for this protest and can only relay what I have learned as second hand information.
EDIT: 11-16-09 9:08 PM - Here is a screen capture of a post from the forum of the socialist group who planned the disruption, calling for a "militant confrontation with the so-called 'tea baggers'."
The link to the post is here (until they take it down) and the link to the web site is here.
Could one of the men captured in the video and seen here in a still photo from the event:
Be new Fort Lauderdale Socialist member, Comrade Fischler? Hmmm....
