A handful of Ventura County Democrats said their civil rights were violated this week when they were denied full access to an Oxnard rally held for Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush.
These supporters of Democratic nominee Al Gore said Oxnard police officers told them on Wednesday that they could not enter the main rally area--at the city's public transportation center--because they did not have tickets to the free event.
But when Bush started speaking and the area was opened to the general public, officers still prevented them from getting close to the train depot, they said.
"It's public property, it's a free country and I don't think they had the right to do that," said Lauraine Effress, a Gore supporter who was barred from entering the rally.
Oxnard Police Chief Art Lopez said safety was his top concern that day. He said Friday that he recognized Gore supporters had a right to be there, but he didn't want them too close to the Bush crowd.
"We didn't want to see a violent confrontation that might take place as a result of Gore supporters coming into a Bush political rally," Lopez said of the approximately 60 officers deployed at the event.
Gore advocates said they didn't plan to create a scene at the event. Rather, they just wanted to make the point--peacefully--that not all Oxnard voters support the Texas governor. When police told the potential protesters they couldn't cross into the rally, they obeyed.
There were no reports of fights or violent confrontations between protesters and the police, authorities said.
"I'm not a militant person," said Effress, a 57-year-old Democrat who works as a mental health worker. "And I'm not a protester. I was just holding a Gore sign."
Michael Small, the ACLU's chief counsel in Southern California, said police officers cannot restrict participation in political rallies unless there is "overwhelming evidence that violence is about to break out."
"The 1st Amendment prevents the government from censoring expression, and the police is an arm of the government," Small said.
About 5,500 people turned out for the first stop in Bush's whistle-stop tour through California, including as many as 75 Gore supporters. The tour ended Thursday in Lodi.
Republican Party officials, who received a temporary use permit to hold the campaign event at the Amtrak station, said they set up a separate area for protesters and anyone who identified themselves as Bush opponents. And they did not issue tickets to anyone wearing a Gore button or hat or carrying a Gore sign.
