Video Shows Warren Cab Driver's Encounter With GOP Tracker Camera
BOSTON (AP) — A video posted online shows an encounter between a cab driver for Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren and a campaign "tracker" for the Massachusetts Republican Party.
The 44-second video shows the cab driver confronting the Republican tracker after a Martha's Vineyard weekend event.
The driver appears to knock the camera from the tracker's hands and tells him to "get out of my face or I'll call the police," adding "you're messing with the wrong people."
The tracker picks up the camera and continues filming saying, "it's a public event, buddy."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports
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Warren's campaign said the driver was not a staff member and that trackers are allowed to video public events.
"The person featured in the video was not a member of the Elizabeth Warren for Massachusetts staff. He is a cab driver. Elizabeth did not see what happened," Warren campaign spokeswoman Julie Edwards said in a statement.
"The photographer has a right to film in public locations, and the campaign had allowed him to film the entirety of Elizabeth's event. The confrontation was wrong."
Massachusetts GOP Executive Director Nate Little said the driver "physically assaulted and threatened an employee of the Massachusetts Republican Party."
"In addition to knocking the camera from the employee's hand, the individual also threw a punch," Little said in a statement. "This type of behavior is completely unacceptable."
Little also said Warren "took no action" despite witnessing the attack. At the time of the confrontation, however, Warren was in the car and it's unclear from the video if she saw the confrontation.
Both campaigns use "trackers" to videotape rivals.
It's not the first such confrontation.
Another video posted online shows a Democratic tracker apparently forcibly removed from a public forum hosted by Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown in March.
In the video, Brown is seen taking questions from the audience when an individual approaches the tracker and appears to force him out of the room telling him "this is for veterans" and threatening to have him arrested.
Warren is continuing to raise more money than Brown, who still has more cash in his campaign account, according to pre-primary reports to the Federal Election Commission.
Warren took in more than $3.7 million between July 1 and Aug. 17 and ended the period with more than $12.3 million in her account. Brown raised more than $2.5 million, ending the period with nearly $14.2 million in cash.
The total raised by both candidates is more than $52.9 million, making the race the most expensive in Massachusetts history. The candidates also have raised more from supporters than candidates in any other Senate race in the country.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
