MICHAEL BAGDES-CANNING

A state senator pulled Cherry Valley Mayor Michael Bagdes-Canning away from the doorway of a Harrisburg restaurant he was blocking in a protest of a $1,000-a-plate political fundraiser that another senator was having at the restaurant.

Active in Cherry Valley government for 34 years and involved for many years with Marcellus Outreach Butler, which opposes drilling for Marcellus Shale natural gas, Bagdes-Canning, said he was protesting the fundraiser Tuesday when Republican Sen. Mike Regan, who represents parts of Cumberland and York counties, grabbed him and pulled him away from the door before he entered the restaurant.

“I didn’t know he was a state senator at the time. It was kind of deflating,” Bagdes-Canning said Thursday. “He looks over the scene. Looks at the three fiery women I was working with. He sees the old guy with the cane and goes after me.”

He said he is using cane to assist with walking due to back pain, and the incident left him with more pain he had to deal with during the drive back to Butler County.

Bagdes-Canning said he and the three women are part of Pennsylvania Action on Climate (PAC), a group he formed last year to oppose “bad climate policy and pervasive corruption in Pennsylvania.”

“We found a lot of our politicians are bought by people who contribute to their campaigns,” he said.

Bagdes-Canning has also run for Butler County commissioner and lieutenant governor as a Green Party candidate.

The fundraiser was being held by Republican Sen. Scott Martin, who represents parts of Berks and Lancaster counties and serves as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“He had a bunch of high rollers come and donate to him. It’s scary. Scott Martin’s own constituents don’t have that kind of access to him,” Bagdes-Canning said. “They’re buying access.”

Wearing a white hazardous materials suit to symbolize PAC’s call for a “toxic cleanup of dirty money in government” while kneeling in front of the restaurant door, Bagdes-Canning said Regan “jerked me up kind of violently.”

He said he drove home in pain afterward, but he doesn’t think he suffered any lasting damage from the encounter.

“It was a painful interaction,” he said.

Since the incident, Bagdes-Canning said he has been getting a lot of phone calls from people he has met across the state over the years of his political activity who are worried about him.

“I’m concerned about Regan thinking he has that right,” Bagdes-Canning said. “I’m not contemplating anything at this point, but I’m not sure what is the right thing at this point. I want to do the right thing.”

A spokesperson for Martin, who hosted the event, said the senator supports the rights of people who protest peacefully.

“While Senator Martin supports the right of anyone to peacefully protest, they must follow the laws of our state and never put the well-being or rights of others in jeopardy by physically blocking entry and exit into a private business,” said Jason Ercole, Martin’s campaign spokesman.

“It is disappointing that rather than avail themselves of the opportunity to sit with the Senator’s office and discuss their concerns like adults this group chose to partake in a publicity stunt. Had they taken the opportunity, this group would have learned of Senator Martin’s strong environmental record including authoring the Clean Streams Fund law and working to protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed,” Ercole said.

Regan could not be reached for comment.