Showdown at the Capitol

I am at the Capitol for the last frantic days of session, made more interesting since the Supreme Court ruled against  Governor Pawlenty being able to use unallotment as a means to balance the budget.  After spending time shooting on the House floor, I walked out and saw the Defend Marriage rally was happening.  I did not feel the need to shoot much of them…I had plenty last week at the Republican convention of these folks, however I was struck by the light hitting the pro Gay Marriage protester, so I made this picture.  I wouldn’t normally post it, except the woman directly across from me in the fuscia jacket came up to me asking me to erase the photos I took because her daughter was in it and she was not giving me permission.  I refused and explained to her that she is in a public place.  She got furious and threaten “to go get someone.”   I told her she could summon the police to see if they would arrest me for doing my job.  She said she didn’t know who I was so how could she do that.  I assured her I would stay put until the police arrived. In the end she walked away, sat on a nearby bench and prayed.  Shawn Towle from Checks and Balances witnessed the whole thing and said she was probably praying that my camera would break or my memory card would go bad.  It didn’t.