Yesterday, a New Jersey paper reported that an angry young woman had splashed purple paint all over two people in Clifton, N.J., who were passing out pamphlets that depicted President Obama as a fascist.
The paper reported that, according to Clifton Police, the pamphleteers were working for the political action committee of Hoffmann-La Roche, a pharmaceutical corporation that has a large campus in the same town.
This piqued TPM’s interest. Pharmaceutical companies distributing leaflets comparing Obama to a fascist?
But, as police told TPM today, they were mistaken. Further investigation showed the pamphleteers were actually supporters of fringe political figure Lyndon LaRouche.
“We originally thought it was La Roche,” said Clifton Police Det. Capt. Robert Rowan, but “based on the investigation, they were working for LaRouche.”
LaRouche supporters have appeared at health care debates and rallies throughout the country, often displaying signs that show Obama with a Hitler mustache. In one famous incident, Rep. Barney Frank told a LaRouchie that he’d rather debate a dining room table.
La Roche, the drug company, has a large facility that spreads over Clifton and the neighboring town, Nutley, which includes research labs and administration offices.
A spokesman for La Roche said this isn’t the first time the mistake has been made, and asserted that the company’s political action committee doesn’t hand out pamphlets.
“We don’t engage in pamphlet distribution activities, any kind of activist work. It’s not what we do,” said Al Wasilewski, executive director of public affairs for Roche in Nutley. “All we do [via the political action committee] is provide funding to various candidates.”
“I’m trying to put out a fire here before it gets out of control,” he added.
On Oct. 20, the pamphleteers were handing out literature from a table set up near a supermarket in the Styertowne Shopping Center. The woman, described as a white 20-something with a dark ponytail, exchanged words with the LaRouche supporters and then walked away.
Police believe she then bought paint at the A.C. Moore Craft Store, came back and “threw the paint over the pamphlets.” She then fled the scene.
(Note: The picture above does not depict the Clifton LaRouche supporters.)
Late update: The Clifton Journal and NJ.com have removed references to La Roche from their stories.
