Tight security and screening at President Bush's campaign events in Iowa has led to at least five arrests, frightened one teenager, and caused several other people to be turned away when they failed to voice support for the president.

While some were protesters, others were escorted out of events or told to leave because they were wearing buttons or T-shirts for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

"It appears that the people wanting to control the visual images and the whole tone of these events have become so overwhelming," said Ben Stone, executive director of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union. "As a result of this obsession with control, there's been this increased use of screening and eliminating people."

The Kerry campaign has also held Iowa events that have been closed to the public. However, reports in Iowa and across the nation indicate that security at Kerry events is less strict. The Des Moines Register could not find any examples of detractors being arrested or kept out of Kerry events, and Republicans declined to provide any examples.

Bush campaign spokesman Dan Ronayne explained that because there's only so much space at each event, volunteers helping to re-elect Bush are given priority at Bush campaign events over those intending to disrupt.

"If someone were to be coming up wearing a 'John Kerry for President' T-shirt, that is probably someone who has left the undecided column," Ronayne said.

One of the latest incidents came when John Sachs, 18, a Johnston High School senior and Democrat, went to see Bush in Clive last week. Sachs got a ticket to the event from school and wanted to ask the president about whether there would be a draft, about the war in Iraq, Social Security and Medicare.

But when he got there, a campaign staffer pulled him aside and made him remove his button that said, "Bush-Cheney '04: Leave No Billionaire Behind." The staffer quizzed him about whether he was a Bush supporter, asked him why he was there and what questions he would be asking the president.

"Then he came back and said, 'If you protest, it won't be me taking you out. It will be a sniper,' " Sachs said. "He said it in such a serious tone it scared the crap out of me."

Sachs stayed at the event, but he was escorted to a section of the 7 Flags Events Center where he was surrounded by Secret Service and told he couldn't ask questions. "I was just in a state of fear," he said. "I was looking at the ceiling and I didn't know what to expect, I was so scared."

Ronayne said he wasn't aware of what happened to Sachs and declined to comment further. "To the best of my knowledge, no one's lives have been threatened at an event," he said.

Sachs' situation is the latest in a string of stories in which Iowans attending Bush campaign events said they've been made to feel unwelcome.

Other incidents include five protesters arrested outside an event in Cedar Rapids; black and Hispanic students frisked in Davenport; and two people denied admission in Dubuque because they either didn't support Bush or were affiliated with someone who didn't.

Iowa's stories are similar to those being told around the country. According to media reports, Missouri students were in tears after they were removed from a Bush rally because they were wearing Kerry buttons. Others in Minnesota and Wisconsin were asked to leave Bush rallies because they had Kerry T-shirts or stickers.

Thursday night, police wearing riot gear fired pepperballs at protesters gathered at a hotel in Jacksonville, Ore., where Bush was scheduled to eat and sleep after a campaign speech. No one was injured, but two were arrested on charges of failure to disperse. Participants questioned the police intervention because they said they weren't violent or disrupting traffic.

"If either campaign keeps people from attending who want to attend, if they're not the right party or whatever, then it's questionable about how democratic the whole process is," said Pat Jensen of Iowa City, president of the Iowa League of Women Voters. "It's hard to encourage people to take part in the process if the campaigns make it difficult to do so."

Stone, of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union, said people don't have a right to disrupt campaign events and can be removed if they start heckling. However, he said peacefully holding a sign or wearing a button is different. "Disruption is one thing, expression is another, and I think that line is being crossed," he said.

Those attending an August campaign event for Vice President Dick Cheney in New Mexico were asked to sign a loyalty oath, pledging their endorsement for Bush's re-election, before they received tickets to the event.

That spurred Kerry to joke regularly about the situation at campaign stops in Iowa and across America. "I want to just make certain that nobody here had to sign a loyalty oath to get in, right?" Kerry asked during a stop in Tipton last week. "This is a genuine open audience of Iowans, right?"

Ronayne said no such loyalty oaths are required by those attending Bush events in Iowa. "The only paper that is distributed at these events for people to sign entirely at their own discretion is a volunteer form," he said.

Kerry campaign spokesman Colin Van Ostern said the Kerry campaign encourages people from all political parties to attend events, especially undecided voters. No loyalty oaths are required. Because Kerry has been visiting Iowa since before the January caucuses, "he is very comfortable in an environment that is more unpredictable," Van Ostern said.

Thursday's rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds featuring Kerry, Edwards and their wives was free and open to the public, as was Edwards' visit to Newton on Monday. Those wishing to attend had to acquire tickets from the campaign. People said they only had to provide their name, address and phone number to get tickets, which also were available over the Internet.

The Bush campaign was asked to cite any instances where Republicans or others were denied access to Kerry events in Iowa, but declined to provide any examples. The Secret Service media office did not return a call seeking an explanation of policies on security at presidential campaign events.

Lynn Karwoski, 50, a Davenport Republican who has actively volunteered for President Bush's re-election campaign, said she hasn't had any problems getting access to Bush's campaign events this year.

In August, she personally greeted Bush in a visit to Davenport. She was then given 10 tickets to a town hall meeting with Cheney, and was even allowed to ask him a question about gay marriage without anyone screening her question.

"Access to the inner circle is available to those who have worked hard in and for the party," Karwoski said. "For me, I've been honored with the ability to go because of my involvement."

Commentary:
Can you believe this? A presidential campaign worker threatening to have a young man killed because he wanted to ask his president a question. I never thought I see what's happening in the country. This story didn't even hit the headlines news yet. Please, if you read this story send it to every person your email lies. This kind of crap has to stop today, not tomorrow or the next day.

Contact the media, demand they do a story about this threat.