Environmental activist and Green Party congressional candidate Donald Hassig went to Watertown Tuesday to hold a press conference and when no press showed up, he got arrested when he tried to draw some attention.

“I traveled many miles to visit Watertown yesterday so that I could conduct a campaign news conference there,” Hassig said in a news release. “Despite the fact that this was my first campaign visit to Watertown and the fact that none of the Watertown news media had yet published or broadcast an interview on the subject of my campaign platform, no member of the Watertown news media, including: the Watertown Daily Times (WDT), TV 7 and TV 50 chose to attend the news conference.

“I went right ahead and conducted my Love the Earth Protect the Earth Change Everything news conference on the subject of the blood of Watertown residents that is on the hands of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the New York State Department of Health (DOH); I did the news conference regardless of the failure of the news media to do its part.” A fellow Green Party member took a video of the event, and Hassig said it will be on YouTube today.

“Our news conference laid out a plan for protecting the people who live in the vicinity of the New York Air Brake Superfund site. I spoke of the investigation that Cancer Action NY has mounted to document and bring out the Truth about the governmental failures that caused people to become sick and die around the heavily contaminated New York Air Brake site,” Hassig said. He said he put up a new web site on the issue at http://newyorkairbrakehealth.wordpress.com.

Then, Hassig said, he enjoyed “the freedom of dance and speech” at Flower Memorial Library.

“I got my CD player out of the van and made preparations for a dance performance on Washington Street” at about 7:30 p.m.

He said he wanted to be heard above the sound of traffic.

“I spoke loudly. I sang loudly. A few times, I shouted loudly. It worked. A small crowd grew around me on the sidewalk.”

A “trouble maker” threatened to call police, Hassig said, and “I yelled, ‘Help, Police.’”

His performance went on, and the police eventually did show up.

“This officer decided to treat me as badly as he thought he could get away with. He handcuffed me very tightly and transported me to the

police headquarters.”

Hassig said he was charged with disorderly conduct/public menacing and theft of services. The theft charge came about because “I had plugged my CD player into city power. I must have stolen five cents worth of electricity.” He said that charge was dropped.

Bail was set at $500, later reduced to $100.

Hassig faces Watertown Republican Matt Doheny and incumbent Democrat Bill Owens of Plattsburgh in the race for the 21st Congressional District.