Ron Paul Backers Arrested At Missouri Caucus

A pair of Ron Paul backers were arrested and others removed by police after a feud between supporters of the GOP presidential candidate and local GOP leaders at one of Missouri’s largest caucuses.

The shouting match and subsequent arrests occurred in St. Charles, an exurb of St. Louis and one of Missouri’s biggest GOP counties. The arrests were made after Paul supporters were seen to be wielding video cameras – such devices are against caucus rules, said a GOP official who was there, and things quickly became contentious. Tom Kipers, a former chairman of the St. Charles GOP who was also at the caucus, told ABC:

“It turned into a little food fight within the caucus, between the caucus chairman trying to control the caucus and certain elements, I guess with Ron Paul, trying to be heard.”

Paul supporters Brent Safford, 45, and Kenneth Suitter, 55, were arrested at the scene for, in the words of a St. Peters police press release, “trespassing after receiving numerous warnings to leave the school property.”

As for the caucus itself, well, it never truly began. It was ended early after an off-duty police officer, hired as security, filed a trespassing complaint against the Paul supporters and informed on-duty police in the area municipality of the trouble at St. Peters. A police helicopter rushed to the the scene, and around ten officers arrived in total.

The caucuses won’t end until next week. Nearly all the Missouri caucuses took place Saturday, but Jackson County, which includes Kansas City and is one of Missouri’s largest counties by GOP votes, will not caucus until March 24.

[Via ABC]