Raley's Market Shoppers, Employees Block Protesters

Raley's shoppers and employees this afternoon did everything they could to block signs from protesters displaying images of President Obama with a toothbrush mustache, made infamous by Hitler. 

Store employees pushed up an entire row of shopping carts stringed together to block the protesters; shoppers driving in Raley's Town Centre parked in front of the booth two protesters stood behind; and Store Director Brian King said he was on the phone with Codding Enterprises, who owns the plaza, trying to figure out to get the protesters to leave.

"This is not us," King said. 

King said at 4 p.m. store employees were out front with signs that said Raley's is not affiliated with the protesters. 

"Customers have been coming up to us telling us they'll never shop here again if we don't get rid of them," said Peter Tinkelenberg, head store clerk. "It's having a huge impact."

"This is a travesty," said John Hackman, who drove the truck blocking the protesters' table.

"We're used to causing a controversy," said both organizers, My-Hoa Steger and Nicole James, who both live in San Francisco and are organizers for the LaRouche Political Action Committee, the group who organized the small demonstration.

Shoppers outside Raley's asked Steger and James if they were affiliated with the Tea Party.

"We're not, we have real solutions," Steger said. 

Steger said they were protesting Obama's policies on healthcare, outsourcing of industry and federal bank bailouts.

"We get yelled at, spat on," Steger said.

About 20 people surrounded the two in a loose huddle, asking them why they were here and what they wanted to prove. 

"I don't want to see this on property open to the public," said shopper Diane Borr, who said she'd been outside conversing with Steger and James for about 45 minutes. "It's not right to disrespect the president. I'm not shopping here until this is resolved."

"I am so offended," said Rita Stedman, who stood outside Raley's with a few shopping bags and a wrapped up umbrella in her cart. "This absolutely will impact whether or not I shop here."

Mary Jane Guerra, who walked up to see what was going on, said she started crying when she saw the protesters.

"We're offended," she said as she huddled around Borr and Stedman.

Police were on the scene, but departed around 2:45 p.m. King, the store manager, said he'd asked the police to get them to leave, but he said the police said they couldn't. 

"They had every right to be there," said Lt. Jeff Taylor, a public information officer with the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety.

And Codding employees "basically said they have every right to be there, same as the police," King said.

"This is not Rohnert Park, this is not who we are," Borr said.

The two protesters left around 4:30 p.m., store employees said.

This article originally stated that the LaRouche Political Action Committee appeared to be affiliated with the Tea Party. It was a small crowd that asked the protesters if they were affiliated.