From the AP/Lansing State Journal
Campaigns clash outside DeVos' office
Police called when chairman of Dems refuses to leave site
By Kathy Barks Hoffman
Associated Press
A news conference Monday in front of Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos' campaign headquarters turned into a shouting match between the state Democratic chairman and a DeVos campaign spokesman.
Even before Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer could begin talking to reporters, DeVos campaign spokesman John Truscott came outside and told him he was on private property and would have to leave. Brewer refused, saying he was exercising his First Amendment rights.
"You do not have First Amendment rights on private property," Truscott said, standing in front of about 15 DeVos campaign staffers holding handwritten cardboard signs that read, "Stop the Granholm lies."
This was a cheap publicity stunt by Brewer. For those who don't know, DeVos HQ is located in an office park in Delta Twp in Eaton County near Lansing. It is all private property there, and the roads there are also private. The public right of ways there are on the nearby main streets - Creyts Rd and Michigan Ave. Brewer legally had to be there for his press conference. That's why Truscott shut him down.
The first amendment doesn't apply to private property. That's not the capitol building.
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