Thursday May 18, 2000, 2:01 PM EDT http://newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2000/5/18/130145 Hillary Delegates Spit on Police Honor Guard

Members of the Albany Police Department's Honor Guard were harassed and spit on by delegates to the New York State Democratic convention that nominated Hillary Clinton for U.S. Senate Tuesday night, The Albany Times Union reported Thursday.

Police Honor Guard officers in full-dress uniform were carrying the American flag as they entered the Pepsi Arena at 5:45 p.m., in front of members of the Albany Police Department's Pipes and Bags band.

"The five-member honor guard, which is made up of Albany police officers, told authorities that some people in the crowd of 11,500 Democratic supporters called them 'Nazis' and 'members of (New York City Mayor Rudolph) Giuliani's Third Reich,'" reported the paper.

"The (spitting and heckling) incidents allegedly took place on the floor of the arena, where only delegates carrying passes were allowed access, officials said."

"We are very upset," Thomas McGraw, Albany police officers union president, told the Times Union. "The honor guard was asked to act as ambassadors to the city of Albany. They were invited guests and they were volunteering their time."

Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings called the incident "reprehensible."