Take the case of boycott protester Steven McDaniel. According to brief news reports, Mr. McDaniel was arrested at Oktoberfest last Sunday for punching Jack Bader, a visitor from Georgia.

        Mr. Bader's brother, Michael Bader, was arrested for retaliating. Amanda Mayes, a leader of the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati — the most militant boycott group — was arrested for disorderly conduct.

        I believe it was all a setup, staged by frustrated boycotters who wanted to wreck Oktoberfest and get some Rodney King video to prove Cincinnati is “racist.”

        The boycotters deny it. But here's the rest of the story:

        On Friday night, stockbroker Chuck Kromer was waiting for a table at Jeff Ruby's Restaurant on Walnut Street when he saw a familiar face outside.

        “I told my wife, "That's Nate Livingston. What the heck? Did he break out of jail?' ”

        Close. Just the day before, Mr. Livingston, also a leader of CJC, was bonded out of jail, where he was serving the remainder of his 60-day sentence for disrupting a speech by the mayor at Oktoberfest two years earlier.

Cameras ready

        About 7:30 Friday night, he was leading about 15 protesters, occupying all four corners around the restaurant, Mr. Kromer said.

        At one point, a black man encouraged four children to run into traffic to block the street, Mr. Kromer said. “But then this black female told them to go home and asked, "Where are your parents?' ”

        He also noticed a protester who was itching for trouble. “There was this older white guy in a suit, who absolutely tried to initiate a fight with the three valet parkers. He kept saying, "If you had the b----, you'd punch me in the face.' It was MF this and MF that.”

        Two other protesters stood nearby with video cameras, ready to tape if the swinging started.

        It did not. One of the parkers told the others to stay cool or they could get fired, Mr. Kromer said. So the foul-mouthed protester in the suit marched into the restaurant and told the maitre d' to call the police because he had been threatened by the car parkers.

        That's when Mr. Kromer stepped forward. “I said, "Sir, I was standing outside, and what you just said was a gross misrepresentation of the facts. That is not what happened.' ”

        He said the protester cursed him out. But in two or three minutes the whole gang moved on to look for trouble somewhere else.

Trap didn't work

        John McLean, Ruby's maitre d', confirmed Mr. Kromer's story. “They were the ones trying to set up a confrontation with my staff, and I was very proud of my staff. They handled it very professionally.”

        At one point, Mr. Kromer said, a young valet parker asked the belligerent protester to please move because he was blocking their sign. “That's when the profanity started.”

        I showed Mr. Kromer a picture of the man who was arrested for fighting on Sunday afternoon, Steven McDaniel.

        “That is absolutely the same guy,” he said.

        Mr. McDaniel did not return my call.

        This much is obvious: The protesters went looking for a fight, and even with a half-million people downtown for Oktoberfest, they couldn't find one. When the profanity-spewing, obnoxious gang couldn't start trouble, they made their own.

        This malicious stunt is tacky with the fingerprints of Nate Livingston. But it backfired.

        They didn't prove Cincinnati is racist. Far from it. They just proved we are incredibly tolerant and polite.

        E-mail pbronson@enquirer.com or call 768-8301.

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