McKinney Update: Fisticuffs!
Hank Johnson may have won more "votes", but Cynthia McKinney knows how to get more press, because if you get into an altercation with the media, you can pretty much guarantee that they're going to report on it. Take notes, Mr. Johnson, take notes.
During her concession speech, McKinney said her mother was hurt and one of her staffers required stitches after members of the media hurt them during the night. Police were eventually called to the scene by 11Alive News.
And:
As McKinney walked outside her campaign headquarters after losing her reelection bid to Hank Johnson, a boom microphone carried by a photographer struck members of McKinney's entourage. In the confusion, McKinney staffers struck an 11Alive photographer and knocked his camera equipment to the ground.
Note how a staffers vs. boom mike altercation becomes "confusion". In the staffers' defense, the boom mike clearly started it.
A short time later, the 11Alive news desk called 9-1-1 after some people followed an 11Alive staff member into the station's satellite truck outside the McKinney headquarters.
Earlier that day, the candidate played an elaborate game of cat and mouse with the press.
Like any campaign, McKinney's supporters let the television stations know where they'd be on that final day. When 11Alive photojournalist Kathy Bourn first caught up with McKinney, her supporters waved some signs while she remained in her vehicle. Her staff asked photographers to keep their distance -- which they did -- until McKinney rolled down her window and motioned to a reporter. The photographers approached, thinking she was about to give an on-camera interview. At that point, a staffer again got between the vehicle and 11Alive's Kathy Bourn.
"That's right, and I'll touch you again, if you do it again," the staffer said.
All this reporting comes from 11 Alive News, Atlanta's local NBC affiliate, whose motto, no foolin', is "We're not square any more." And it's true: after getting into all these brawls, it's clear that 11 Alive News isstraight up gangsta.
McKinney Supporters, Media Scuffle [11Alive.com]
McKinney Staffer Grabs 11Alive Photog [11Alive.com]