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MEHVILLE -- St. Louis County police arrested six people, including a
Post-Dispatch reporter, during a demonstration Thursday evening outside a
forum on aging called by U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis.

Two of the people were arrested on suspicion of assault, one of resisting
arrest and three on suspicion of committing peace disturbances, police say.

The forum drew an overflow crowd of several hundred to Bernard Middle School
gym in south St. Louis County. Dozens of people, many carrying signs about
the health care debate, were kept out because of the turnout. The back and
forth between factions within the crowd created a carnival-like atmosphere
inside and out between members of the movement opposing President Barack
Obama's policies and groups who came to show support for the president's
proposals.

The six people were arrested after confrontations outside the school, said
county police spokesman Rick Eckhard. Carnahan was gone when the ruckus
started, Eckhard said.

Post-Dispatch reporter Jake Wagman, who was covering the event and shooting
video for stltoday.com, was arrested for interference.

Post-Dispatch photographer Dawn Majors was at the scene and photographed the
arrests. She said she heard Wagman yell her name and say that he was being
taken into custody.

In a prepared statement released Friday morning, Carnahan said: "Sadly we've
seen stories about disrupters around the country, and we have a handful of
them here in Missouri. Instead of participating in a civil debate, they have
mobilized with special interests in Washington who have lined their pockets
by overcharging Americans for a broken health care system."

"I will continue to engage with constituents that I am honored to represent
in Congress and fight to achieve long-overdue health insurance reform in our
country," Carnahan said.

One of those arrested was Brian Matthews, 34, of St. Louis city, who works
as a rehabber and previously worked on a campaign for a Texas statehouse
candidate.

"I feel like it was a bull rush," Matthews said. "It all came from behind."

Matthews said he had been inside the forum because he is in favor of a
public option for health care. He had attended with a friend, a 51-year-old
woman. After it was over, they were walking outside and had a run-in with a
man who was trying to videotape them. Matthews said that man from from the
GOP. They reported the man to a police officer, who seemed uninterested,
Matthews said.

As the pair walked to their car, they saw a man on the street who looks like
he had been assaulted. Police surrounded him.

"My friend took pictures," Matthews said, "and an officer told her not to.
She contested that."

Matthews said he and his friend walked away, arm in arm. The officer
followed them, and Matthews friend exchanged words with the officer,
Matthews said.

"I can't tell you how many police officers charged us from behind," Matthews
said. "I was pushed to the ground by one. I was pushed into the back of
somebody who was walking away."

Matthews said he was told he was arrested for interference. His friend was
maced "after she was subdued by the police," Matthews said. She vomited on
the side of the road, then later vomited more in the police car, he said.

Kenneth Gladney, 38, a conservative activist from St. Louis, said he was
attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow flags with "Don't
tread on me" printed on them. He spoke to the Post-Dispatch from the
emergency room at St. John's Mercy Medical Center, where he said he was
awaiting treatment for injuries to his knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face.
Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man, used a
racial slur against him before the attack.

"It just seems there's no freedom of speech without being attacked," he
said.

Members of the local Tea Party Coalition, a movement that has emerged to
counter Obama's policies, had urged their members to attend Carnahan's
forum, which in turn spurred Democrats to establish a strong presence....