Woman ticketed outside McCain event

DENVER — The lawyer for a woman who received a trespassing ticket after a liberal group’s protest outside John McCain’s town hall event in Denver says she will contest the ticket.

Sixty-year-old Carol Kreck, a former reporter for The Denver Post, held a sign that read “McCain Bush” Monday when police removed her from the atrium of the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

She says she was removed as she asked an officer whether he could deny her free-speech rights by taking away her sign, while McCain supporters wore buttons inside the venue.

Jenny Schiavone, a spokeswoman for the performing arts center, says the venue is city-owned rental property but is not legally defined as public property.

She says the liberal group ProgressNowAction had asked about being inside the atrium during the GOP presidential candidate’s event but was told it would have to rent space or use designated protest areas along the street.

Police spokesman John White said officers acted as they would have for any complaint on private property.