Cuomo's Staff Has Howie Hawkins Barred From Campaign Event

Man, this is lame:

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Green Party gubernatorial candidate Howie Hawkins was kept out of an Andrew Cuomo campaign rally today by the governor's campaign staff.

Hawkins, of Syracuse, said he had RSVP'd to the event, as supporters were instructed to do. Other people who didn't register were allowed inside the Southwest Community Center, as long as they showed identification.

But Hawkins was refused entrance to the indoor event. He said he had planned to listen to Cuomo. He was hoping to invite Cuomo for a ride around the South Side neighborhood on a pedicab, Hawkins' answer to Cuomo's bus tour through Upstate today.

Cuomo's campaign staff said his campaign rented the community center for Saturday's event. The campaign paid about $150 to $200 an hour for about six hours, a spokesman said.

Hawkins said he had tried to use the community center to launch his campaign for governor. He was turned down, he said.

Apparently Il Duce may not be offended by the sight of a campaign opponent.

First he refused to acknowledge the presence of his primary opponent, Zephyr Teachout, at the Labor Day Parade in NYC.

Now he has his staff bar the Green Party candidate from attending a rally - even though Hawkins wasn't planning on disrupting the event and had played by the rules the Cuomo campaign wanted "supporters" to play by.

Just another example of Cuomo's authoritarian ways.