Dan Borchers and Coulter
Coulter's Bodyguards Harrass Conservative Christian Dan Borchers
This contains the entire testimony from Dan Borchers, with intro by Lydia Cornell
On Friday March 2, 2007 at 11:15 a.m. I called my co-author Dan Borchers of Citizens for Principled Conservatism, http://www.principledconservative.org/bio.html to see how he was doing.
When I called Borchers Friday morning, he told me he was at CPAC, having a great time, and had gone to several seminars. I asked him if Ann Coulter was going to speak. He said she was scheduled for later in the day, but that it was probably standing room only. Dan said he was about to interview Mark Smith, an author. Forty-five minutes later, around 12 noon, I got a frantic call from Borchers. He sounded panicked and said, “I've just been assaulted and kicked out of the conference.” I said, “What? Why?” He said, “I don't know, they wouldn't say. But I was wrestled out of the hotel by four bodyguards, one I recognized as being Ann Coulter's - and they shoved me and tried to grab my name tag. They were incredibly hostile; one of them grabbed at me and cut my hand. They wouldn't say who they were.” I told him he should call the police, file a police report. He then told me he was being filmed the entire time, and the cameraman was grinning, as if it was a "set up." He said they forcibly pushed him out of the (Omni Shoreham) Hotel and told him he better get to his car. By the time he got to the parking lot, he said one of the bodyguards was waiting for him. He threatened him. You can read Dan's own account in his own words below.
Note: Borchers and I been collaborating on a couple of projects together, including a book called BLOGGING WITH THE DEVIL or How to Talk to Ann Coulter If You Must from a left wing and right wing Christian perspective. I personally had suffered through a year of frightening death threats, hate mail, slander, hackers and people coming to our front door - after Ann Coulter posted my home number and private information on her website in retaliation for an article I wrote about her "extermination-speak," Death is Sexier than Sex, to Ann Coulter”. We had to call the FBI after our trash cans were lit on fire. On the flip side, I also received tons of love mail - and a Marine combat vet sent me his Purple Heart for standing up to Coulter. This entire thing took a much more sinister turn, which is described in our upcoming book.
Dan Borchers is a lifelong Republican, a conservative military veteran, whose only crime is being morally offended at the way conservatism has been ruined by people like Coulter, who claims to be a Christian, but indulges in hate-speak and amoral, felonious behavior. He believes it is his moral obligation to bring attention to this, and that "evil triumphs when good men do nothing."
Borchers is the most mild-mannered, humble Christian. He is critical of the way Ann Coulter has "mainstreamed extremism" and has written articles about her. He accused her of plagiarizing her early books, and at the CPAC conference two years ago, he tried to distribute press kits calling for Coulter to stop her hate speak.
From Dan Borchers: “In September of last year, I sought press credentials for CPAC 2007. Floyd Resnick, Director of CPAC Security, denied those credentials. Resnick was described in Time magazine as “a bourbon-drinking ex-cop who says, quite believably, that he can kill with his bare hands.” I then registered online for a three-day conference pass, paying the $100 fee via credit card, and I received an email acknowledgement confirming my registration. That email acknowledgement was auto-signatured by CPAC Director Lisa De Pasquale.
On March 1, 2007, the morning of the first day of the conference, I arrived at the Omni Shoreham Hotel (2500 Calvert Street NW. Washington, District of Columbia 20008) and registered for the conference. I was immediately given a name badge with my name pre-printed on it: “Dan Borchers, Odenton, MD.”
That day and the next, I listened to speeches, toured the exhibition hall, took photographs, spoke with friends and conducted interviews. During both days, I spoke several times with Ian Walters, an employee of CPAC who has known me since 2002. Everything seemed fine.
At around 1 p.m. on Friday, March 2, 2007, I spoke with author and attorney Mark W. Smith, whom I had previously interviewed a few years earlier at a different venue, and I asked him a few questions which he readily agreed to. His manner was friendly and accommodating. But then I dared to ask a question about Ann Coulter and the Paula Jones case. At that point, Smith interrupted the interview for about ten minutes, then returned and we resumed the interview.
In less than an hour, probably a few minutes before 2 p.m., I was accosted by Floyd Resnick and several other people. Resnick appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of me, body-blocking me. His manner was very confrontational and hostile as he demanded to know who I was. He asked me my name, turned my name badge over to see my name, and then tried to forcibly remove that name badge from around my neck.
At no time did any of the individuals identify themselves by name.
Resnick insisted that I leave the premises and claimed that I was not authorized to be there. I told him that I had registered and paid to attend the conference. He said that my money had been refunded. All the while he insisted that I leave as he kept trying to get my name badge.
After insisting that I be able to retrieve my belongings, Resnick and his crew rushed me to the area where my belongings were located. Resnick continued to try to get my name badge, struggling with me. Once again, at no point did anyone offer any identification or credentials, so I was reluctant to relinquish the one proof of authorization that I had in my possession.
My belongings were near the booth for Muslims for America. I had to pass by the co-founder of that organization, Muhammad Ali Hasan (his phone number is 310-770-6953), to get my possessions.
I reached into my pocket to get my digital voice recorder in order to document what was taking place. At that point, my name badge was in my left hand extended far from Resnick, who then lunged forward, his body against mine, as he ripped the name badge from my hand. It was at that time that my hand was cut - a very minor cut - between my thumb and forefinger.
The Chief of Security for Omni Shoreham was also there. He didn't give me his name, though he later gave his title. He was conciliatory, stating that I would have to go through CPAC for any redress against them, but he was also firmly insistent that I leave the premises because I was not a guest of the hotel. They escorted me out through the curtain separating the basement exhibit hall from a maintenance area and exiting the building, past trash cans and parking. They carefully avoided all of the press in the area, yet throughout this incident, another person was filming the entire event from the beginning.
I repeatedly demanded that I get a copy of that video and the person who later identified himself as the chief of security for the hotel kept reassuring me that I would be given a copy.
We arrived outside the front entrance of the hotel. I was refused re-admittance to the hotel, blocked by their words and their bodies. The Omni Shoreham Chief of Security took my coat check and retrieved my coat, giving it to me.
While he was retrieving my coat, I kept asking the other men, as they circled around me, who they were and why they were doing this. They refused to identify themselves. Resnick did not give me his name, but he eventually told me that he was the chief of security for CPAC and that he was the one who had denied my press credentials. (That's how I know his name.) Meanwhile, we had quite an audience with people at the hotel entrance questioning themselves about what was taking place before their very eyes.
I attempted to take a picture of Resnick at 2:05 p.m., but that photo did not turn out (perhaps the FBI can recover the digital photo). I did take a picture of the cameraman at 2:06 p.m.
After receiving my coat, I was told to leave. I left, walked down the driveway, turned right on Calvert Street, crossed 24th Street and waited at the intersection for the light to change so that I could cross Calvert Street toward the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan metro station.
The cameraman was still filming me! Students at that intersection were staring in wonder at what was taking place, asking each other what was going on.
The light changed, I crossed the street and took the two escalators down to the metro station. I turned back to see if the cameraman was still there. He wasn't. Instead, one of Resnick's people, still unidentified, was stalking me. I approached him. He told me I'd better get on the train. He refused to answer my questions or identify himself. Nor did he say what would happen if I did not get on the train, though he ominously held his cell phone conspicuously ready to put to his ear.
As I reached into my pocket, my mysterious stalker threatened me! He said, “If you take out your camera, I'll smash it into a thousand pieces.”
I turned, went through the turnstile and spoke to the metro attendant who was on duty. Turning, I pointed to my stalker and said, “That man is harassing me.” I then briefly explained the situation and the verbal threat. I pulled out my camera to take a photo and my stalker turned and walked away, putting his cell phone to his ear.
After getting the name of my metro station witness, I took that metro train to where my car was parked. At that time I discovered the bleeding cut to my hand. However minor, it is evidence of the assault (photo taken at 2:34 p.m.).
I called the DC police at 2:46 p.m. (cell phone time). A unit arrived about one hour later. I told them my story and showed them the cut on my hand, but they were unable to help because they were from a different district. The name of one of the officers was Officer Douglas A. McAndrew (Badge # 2471).
It is worth noting that Floyd Resnick, Director of CPAC Security, is also Ann Coulter's personal bodyguard and that CPAC Director Lisa De Pasquale is also one of Ann Coulter's publicists. They are seeking to silence me, a conservative who is critical of Ann Coulter.
On March 3, 2007, I received a certified letter from CPAC refunding my registration fee. They had mailed it on Saturday, February 24, 2007, but it didn't arrive at the Odenton Post Office until March 2, 2007, while I was at CPAC. I did not receive that letter until Saturday, March 3, 2007, the day after being accosted at the CPAC convention.
In that letter, Lisa De Pasquale cites my “past behavior at CPAC” as the reason for not permitting me at CPAC, without describing what that behavior was. It was, of course, my CPAC 2002 press kit critical of Ann Coulter.
On March 5, 2007, I spoke with Rafaello McKeython, Chief of Security for the Omni-Shoreham Hotel (202-234-0700) and one of the four individuals copied on De Pasquale's letter to me. [Floyd Resnick was also copied on that letter.] When I asked for a copy of the tape, Mr. McKeython said: “I didn't promise you a tape. They haven't gotten a copy for me yet. I don't even have a copy for myself. They just finished their conference on Saturday and I was off that day. I asked the gentlemen for a copy. Call me back on Wednesday and I should have it by then.”
At approximately 1:50 p.m., I spoke with Police Officer A. DeLosSantos (Badge # 2271) of the Third District. After describing the incident, Officer De LosSantos refused to file a police report on this incident and refused to initiate an investigation into what took place.” - Dan Borchers
The original letter accepting Borcher's registration, sigined by Lisa de Pasquale, as well as photographs Borchers took while being manhandled, are available upon request.
-###-
March 7, 2007 By Lydia Cornell with Dan Borchers / http://www.LydiaCornell.com / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Cornell / www.CoulterWatch.com / http://www.principledconservative.org/ / Basham and Cornell Progressive Talk
For interviews with Dan Borchers or Lydia Cornell, please e-mail: ILENE PROCTOR proctor@artnet.net
