Lori Compas: Inventor Of The #Democrabeep

The not-so-secret news is finally out and Lori Compas has announced her intention to become the new state senator for the 13th District.

People from all over Wisconsin has been cheering Compas on, but a previously unknown item will certainly propel her into Wisconsin's history books.

Oddly enough, the discovery, and ensuing report, comes from the Koch-brother funded, Scott Walker campaign-operated Wisconsin Reporter.    In what I'm sure they intended to be a smear, they started Compas on the path to be a Wisconsin legend:

Compas was Lori Miller — her maiden name — in 1995, when she was charged with two counts of disorderly conduct in Montana.

According to the case file, Compas was accused of disturbing the peace, “making loud or unusual noises, by blowing the Toyota’s horn while her friend drove past” Yellowstone Edge RV Park in the Paradise Valley of Montana.

She was convicted, but appealed the case all the way up to the Montana Supreme Court in 1997.

At her de novo bench trial in May 1997, she admitted that she “frequently honked as she traveled past the RV Park and that she did, in fact, honk the Toyota’s horn on the dates in question,” according to the Supreme Court document.

Compas testified that it was “‘her personal policy to honk every time (she) drove by the place, because she wanted to protest the RV park and its location on the Yellowstone River,” according to court records.

“In Compas’ view, the RV Park was an eyesore which destroyed the view of the road and the river," according to court documents.

Her reason for taking the case to the high court was she was exercising her right to free speech under the First Amendment. She also said she did not disturb the peace.

In other words, Compas was the first to use the #democrabeep, 15 years before it reached Wisconsin.

See, she's a legend!

Oh, and a note to the Koch/Walker staffers at WR: If that's all you can find, you'd have been better off to keep your mouths shut.  I'm sure your bosses will be telling you the same thing, if they haven't already.