The petition rally was originally scheduled at a local Merrill restaurant but was relocated after the proprietors received many phone calls and felt they needed to back out. The committee then set up in front of the Lincoln County Courthouse to offer citizens an opportunity to sign their names to the petition.  Over 1,000 calls had been sent out the previous day notifying area residents of the petition rally.

Upon arrival, members of the recall committee were encircled by union protesters carrying signs and a leader with a mega phone who began chanting and ranting loudly. They packed in tightly around the petition collection table so as to prevent those attempting to sign from doing so. At one point, a pro union protester, pretending to be interested in signing the petition, wrote profanity across a partially collected petition form, than began ripping up the completed petitions that were in close proximity. 

The policemen who were there, and who were standing in close proximity to these events as they unfolded, did nothing to assist those collecting the petitions as they were being destroyed, [emphasis added] despite such an action being a Felony under Wisconsin law. Police also did nothing to clear the walk way for citizens that wanted to sign the petitions. Recall Committee members received many phone calls the following day from Merill area citizens who stated that they showed up to sign the petition, but were too afraid to get out of their vehicles and approach the recall table.