Former U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney is fighting for the Green party presidential nomination – not security guards.

McKinney, former Democratic representative from Atlanta, made several public appearances in Carbondale Saturday as part of her national presidential campaign. McKinney is one of four presidential candidates running in the Feb. 5 primary for the Green Party nomination.

The Green Party will only appear on the ballot in California and Illinois. In Illinois previous third-party candidates have to garner at least five percent of the vote for the party to appear on later ballots.

McKinney spoke to a crowd gathered at the Student Center about an incident with police that made national TV in 2006. According to a report filed by a Capitol Hill Police officer, McKinney was not wearing a pin identifying her as a member of Congress when she tried to enter an office building without passing through metal detectors. The officer said McKinney struck him with a closed fist when asked to identify herself.

The incident, McKinney said, was entirely the guard’s fault for not recognizing her as a member of Congress.

While in Carbondale, McKinney joined a group of weekly protesters at Town Square. Norma Wheeler, an 87-year-old Marion native, said the group protests the war in Iraq and use of torture in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Former Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney joined McKinney, and displayed a sign reading “Peace on Earth,” to traffic traveling west on Walnut Street.

Whitney said he endorses McKinney’s nomination, and said she is a better candidate than the Republican and Democratic options. McKinney has been a life-long Democrat and has a family history with the party, but will convert to the Green Party for the 2008 elections.

“I have always expressed Green Party values,” she said.

McKinney was the first black woman to represent Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was first elected in January 1993 but was defeated for re-election in 2002. She defeated the incumbent in 2004 and served until January 2007.

While in Congress, McKinney spoke about many racial issues, including the Florida voting system accused of not counting one million African American ballots. She also drew up letters of impeachment for United States President George W. Bush.

Mark Donham, a political activist and friend of McKinney’s, said she has endured racial profiling and a bad image inflicted by corporate media.

“She’s not a radical,” he said. “She’s very caring and warm.”

Barton Lorimor can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 274 or barton.lorimor@siude.com.