Grinnell students are certainly a political force to be reckoned with.
On Tuesday, Michelle Bachmann made a campaign stop at Caroll's Pumpkin Patch in Iowa. When she arrived, she was greeted by about 50 Grinnell students milling about and holding signs.
Does this sound like a threatening scene? The police thought so. At about 5:30, right before the event was to start, the police cordoned the students from the gathering with tape.
The New York Times has more:
A few students, who had been alerted to the visit by an e-mail from the campus Democrats, unfurled signs protesting Mrs. Bachmann's opposition to gay rights ("Pumpkins are the Gayest"). But there was no chanting and no heckling. Most students said they had come to hear her speak and to ask a question or two.
"Grinnell's known for being a very liberal and politically active campus, but we're very peaceful,'' said one student, Jillian Johnson. "We weren't going to throw anything. We just wanted her to talk to us."
A Bachmann spokesman denied the barrier had anything to do with the students presence. CBS reports, however, that she cut short her visit and canceled her speech.
Bachmann was at the patch to fund-raise for a Christian group called The Family Leader.
“This was never intended to be a big public event,” Bachmann told reporters, “This was always intended to be a private fundraiser.”
Check out video of the event from the Scarlet and Black: