The RW blogosphere is twittering over Occupy Madison getting a permit pulled because of alleged complaints of public masturbation by protesters. This is a classic case of building a smear out of wrong facts and unsourced statements. I decided to track the story down for a discussion today on my radio show, the Fairness Doctrine.
The story originated in the local college paper, the Cardinal. The original story cited Parks Department employee Laura Bauman saying a nearby hotel was escorting employees to a bus stop to protect them from masturbating protesters. We talked with Ms. Bauman. She told us that she did not tell the paper that and no hotel has reported any inappropriate behavior. The alleged hotel action came from an named citizen who spoke at a Parks Commission hearing saying she had she had heard from unnamed sources that an un-named hotel had taken the claimed action. The Parks Department never received a complaint or report of indecent exposure from any one.
We talked to the police and a police spokesman told us that no reports of indecent exposure by the protesters had been filed with the police and that no hotel had contacted them for help or concern.
On the claim that a permit had been pulled, the facts are just plain wrong. Paul Streeter, the organizer of OM has a valid permit which he is voluntarily reliquishing to make way for a previously scheduled event. He is preparing an application for a new location. No permit was denied by any agency, ever.
So the story is wrong on the permit issue, wrong on the Parks employee issue and is based on an unnamed source citing an unnamed source at a public meeting claiming activities by a nameless hotel that show up in no reports or complaints.
Just the kind of thing Breitbart loves.