Presidential Advance Manual: handy guidebook written by White House telling the Secret Service how control protestors

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Parts of the Presidential Advance Manual became public recently as part of a lawsuit involving two US citizens, Jeff and Nicole Rank, who (despite free speech protections) were arrested for attending a George Bush speech wearing T-shirts that read “Regime Change Starts at Home” and “Love America, Hate Bush”, reported The Australian Financial Review (28/8/2007, p. 64).

How to deal with free speech: The Presidential Advance Manual - or, at least, the part of it that wasn’t redacted out by the White House before it was submitted as evidence in the lawsuit - is jam packed with handy hints that we Sydneysiders could learn from in the run-up to the big event. Here’s one hint, taken from page 35 of the guide:

“Once a group of demonstrators has been identified, the advance person must decide what action to take. If it is determined that the media will not see or hear them and that they pose no potential disruption to the event, they can be ignored.

On the other hand, if the group is carrying signs, trying to shout down the President, or has potential to cause some greater disruption to the event, action needs to be taken immediately to minimise the demonstrators’ effect … If demonstrators appear likely to cause only a political disruption, it is the advance person’s responsibility to take appropriate action. Rally squads should be dispatched to surround and drown out demonstrators immediately.”

Obviously, the White House prepared that welcoming guideline.

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Filed under Civil rights, Protest, Secret Services