RICHMOND, Va. - Immediately after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor exited the room following his concession speech, a group of political demonstrators stormed inside, at the Westin Hotel off Forest Avenue.
They came in shouting and waving a large flag, along with a red shirt printed with the name CASA De Virginia.
The group defines itself as a community organization that protects civil rights, according to their Twitter page.
Several skirmishes occurred as the crowd shouted swarmed into the room. Someone in the group knocked the glasses off of a CASA de Virginia member. A Cantor supporter was put in a choke hold, seemingly by someone trying to remove her from the room.
Plates of food were tipped over and demonstrators were also pushed around. At this time it doesn't seem as though any arrests were made.
“Eric Cantor lost because he was a pretend tea partier,” said Lindolfo Carballo, Lead Organizer for CASA de Virginia and leader of this evening’s protest. “But voters, faith and business leaders, and more all agree that we need a real leader to end the suffering of our families.”
CASA De Virginia is a sister organization of CASA in Action, that fights for immigration rights. CASA in Actionhad an organized presence at Ken Cuccuinelliheadquarters in 2013 while the candidate and supporters awaited gubernatorial results.
That night, an unidentified man stepped onto the stage at the Richmond Marriott and starting shouting about immigration reform. Shortly after, a group of demonstrators from CASA In Action started chanting as well and passing out fliers about immigration reform.
Cantor, House Majority Leader, was running for an eighth term in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, against Tea-Party backed economics professor Dave Brat.
