Community Corner

UPDATE: Manchester Woman Says Gingrich Aide Assaulted Her at New Hampshire Campaign Stop

The woman claims the assault occurred at a Mexican restaurant in Manchester, NH, while she was holding an "Occupy Hartford" sign.

Update, 3:15 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 11

Rebecca Burton, the 43-year old Manchester, CT woman who claims she was violently shoved by an aide to Newt Gingrich while the Republican presidential candidate was making a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Sunday, said she told Manchester, NH police at the time of the incident that she wanted to press charges, but that the police asked her to think about it for a day and called her back Monday to verify that she still intended to press charges. 

"I told them from the beginning that I wanted to press charges," Burton told Patch Wednesday. "I don't know why they had to call and ask again. I don't think they're really eager to pursue this." 

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Burton said she is pressing charges not because the aide removed a sign from her hand - which read "Occupy Hartford" - but because the aide grabbed and shoved her, which she felt was a violation of her person and rose to the level of an assault. 

"I'm not pressing charges because he ripped the sign out of my hand," Burton said Wednesday. "I'm pressing charges because he put his hand on my arm, shook me and shoved me with force, which I think probably anybody would consider assault." 

Find out what's happening in Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to numerous media reports, Burton was among a group of protestors from the Occupy movement who were protesting a Gingrich campaign stop at a Mexican restaurant in Manchester, NH when an unidentified aide removed the sign from her hand. 

Burton, a small business owner, said she "wrenched" her back as a result of the shove, and that she planned to see a doctor on Wednesday for the injury. 

Original Story

A Manchester woman told The Hartford Courant Monday that she intends to press charges against an aide to Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, who she said violently removed a sign from her possession inside a Mexican restaurant during a campaign stop by the candidate in New Hampshire. 

The Courant reports that the incident occurred at a restaurant in Manchester, NH, when a campaign aide removed a sign from Rebecca Burton, a Manchester, CT, resident, and that Gingrich was not present at the time. Burton was among a group of protesters from the Occupy movement who had gathered outside the restaurant to protest Gingrich's appearance. Burton's sign read "Occupy Hartford," according to The Courant

Burton said she had just entered the restaurant when the sign was suddenly "ripped" out of her hands, and she turned to see a man walking away with it, according to The Courant

Burton filed a complaint with the Manchester, NH, police, but declined to press charges at the time. When she returned to Connecticut on Monday, she told The Courant she changed her mind because what the aide did was "wrong." 

Quinn Bowman, a reporter for PBS Newshour who witnessed the incident at the restaurant Sunday, Tweeted what he saw immediately afterwards, according to the Raw Story progressive news website

“Man w earpiece at Gingrich event in Manchester struggles violently to get sign out of female occupier’s hands,” Bowman tweeted Sunday.

Burton's Facebook page includes pictures of her taking part in protests for the Occupy Hartford movement.


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