Deterring protesters? Seating supporters close to the stage? Discouraging demonstrators? Surely there isn't a government manual for that sort of thing, is there?
Actually, there is. Slate reports that the federal government last week settled a lawsuit with two people arrested in 2004 for wearing anti-Bush T-shirts to a presidential speech in West Virginia. The couple refused to remove their T-shirts, but weren't disruptive. Slate reports that the Presidential Advance Manual dated October 2002 was made partially public as a result of the case, and the manual offers several methods for shielding the president from dissent and minimizing the impact of protests.
The manual -- posted here on the ACLU's Web site -- instructs event planners and staff to try to deter potential protestors and to encourage friendly organizations to strategically counter-protest.
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