Sunday, October 8, 2006

Protesters Corner Jeb Bush in Pa.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Protesters greeted Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on his way to a campaign event for a Pennsylvania senator, and he briefly took refuge in a subway station supply closet to avoid the anti-Republican demonstrators.

The president's brother encountered protesters on their way to join a demonstration outside the exclusive Duquesne Club, where Sen. Rick Santorum, a Republican, was holding a fundraiser Friday.

Officers used stun guns to subdue two protesters, saying they disobeyed orders to disperse, said Bob Grove, a Port Authority spokesman.

"It was a very tense situation. They were very close to the governor and shouting on top of him," Grove said.

Bush was not injured.

The protesters, made up of members of the United Steelworkers union and the anti-war group Uprise Counter Recruitment, chanted, "Jeb go home," and said Bush blew them a kiss.

Bush, accompanied by a security guard and an aide, retreated into a nearby subway station and was followed by about 50 picketers, said Bob Grove, a Port Authority spokesman.

"(Bush) was quickly getting out of the way and not wanting to engage us," said Jon Vandenburgh, a protester and a researcher for the United Steelworkers.

As a precaution, Bush was ushered into a station supply closet and stayed there until the crowd left.

The incident lasted about five minutes. No one was arrested or cited, Grove said.

Demonstrators said they later saw the governor enter the Duquesne Club.

A spokeswoman for the governor's office said Bush was taking a walk in Pittsburgh when his security detail from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement saw the protesters.

"The agents took an alternate route to get around them. The governor was safe at all times and had full confidence in the FDLE agents who were with him," Alia Faraj said Saturday.


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