Guest of NM state rep suffers eye injury during Occupy protest in Santa Fe

Capitol Report New Mexico.com - Occupy protesters came under fire at the Roundhouse on Thursday after a handful of them burst into a dinner for state legislators at the Eldorado Hotel on Wednesday night, shouting political slogans, trying to rope off the diners with crime scene tape and throwing protest material that ended up hitting the female guest of state Rep. Bill Rehm (R-Albuquerque) in the eye, possibly causing some damage. The protesters were angry that a number of New Mexico lawmakers some Democrats but mostly Republicans were taking part in the dinner, which was hosted by the American Legislative Exchange Council , a conservative organization that calls for smaller government but is targeted by many on the left as a tool for corporate America. According to lawmakers who attended the dinner, a protest was held outside the hotel prior to the dinner, with the demonstrators loudly insisting that the legislators skip the dinner. About 70 people were in a private room at the Old House Restaurant at the Eldorado when, according to lawmakers interviewed by Capitol Report New Mexico, about five or six protesters burst through the doors, shouting, grabbing yellow police tape “as it this was a crime scene, I guess,” one legislator said and then started throwing 5 x 8 cards “they were fake invitations of some sort,” one witness said and one of the cards struck Rep. Rehm’s guest in the eye. Witnesses say the woman throwing the card was “in her late 20s, a slender, white female” and was hustled out of the room by Rep. Dennis Kintigh (R-Roswell), who is a former FBI agent. Read more

Guest of NM state rep suffers eye injury during Occupy protest in Santa Fe