Up until a couple of months ago, Governor Christie seemed to have free reign at his regularly scheduled town hall meetings.

Crowds for the most part were friendly, polite – with the occasional outburst from someone in the audience who’d draw the Governor’s ire – and eventually wind up a virtual star on Youtube.

Lately, though, crowds have been testier. The Bridgegate scandal, while not being the central concern of those in attendance, has had some in the audience demanding answers.

And as you may have heard, a good many of those who’ve protested loudly have been escorted out by police.

And have had their picture taken.

That act has drawn the attention of one state legislator who’s labeled that an intimidation tactic straight out of the “Richard Nixon playbook!” (Quotes mine)

According to this from nj.com:

Regarding the picture taking at town hall meetings - from my own personal experience.

I recall the few times we’ve had rallies at the Statehouse – be it the Jersey Guys Stripper Rally, Flying Pigs Rally, or the Funeral for the Middle Class – state police were always in attendance – and yes, they were taking pictures.

And these weren’t press people either. We were told that they were state police.

Remember too that the rallies were all held under different administrations (Codey’s and Corzine’s).

So while it may seem to be a partisan tactic to intimidate the opposition; it’s used by both sides. And the purpose, while not being stated as "intimidation", has more to do with security.

But then again we get into that murky area of who's got the pictures and are they being kept for some nefarious purpose.

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