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Laura Bush Heckler Found Not Guilty Of Assault
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 17, 2009
Modified Jun 17, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 17, 2009
Modified Jun 17, 2009
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That protester who heckled Laura Bush and daughter Jenna Bush after their children's book tour hit the 92nd Street Y last year finally had his day in court, and a jury found him not guilty. Gary Talis, 24, wasn't arrested for heckling, but for allegedly assaulting the parents of a wheelchair-bound teenage girl when they tried to shut him up outside the venue. When Talis started yelling about how the First Lady is married to a war criminal as she left the Y, John Lovetro (pictured), allegedly responded, "What are you doing? Shut up. This is about a child and books...Get out of here! You're being a moron!" Lovetro (pictured), his wife Wendy, and the couple's daughter, Maureen, who suffers from cerebral palsy, then got into some kind of altercation with Talis. All three Lovetroses, plus a Secret Service agent, testified that Talis attacked them, but Talis and another witness convinced the jury that the Lovetroses were in fact going after him.
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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