Video: Democrat Rep. Etheridge assaults student on street

[Ron]

Pretty amazing display of hubris.

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/06/14/video-rep-etheridge-assaults-student-on-street/

http://biggovernment.com/mikeflynn/2010/06/14/long-hot-summer-begins-congressman-attacks-student/

[Sergeant Bob]

I'm afraid Rep Etheridge would have been picking up his teeth had he assaulted me like that. The cockroaches do get angry when you shine the light on them.

[taurusowner]

WOW.  I'll be very interested to see where this goes.  I don't think I've ever even heard of something like this happening.

[AZRedhawk44]

It is considered poor form for a journalist (even a blogger) to not identify himself and his agency, paper or channel, prior to beginning an interview.  Even an ambush-interview like this one.

The proper response from the Congressman, however, is not to assault, initiate false imprisonment or false arrest (grab the arm and fail to release on demand), or batter the interviewer.

A tasteless interview, with a response that is a byproduct of tasteless interviews.


And one other thing:  For all we know, the cameraman was wearing something very provocative and intended to get a rise out of the Congressman.  A dead donkey getting peed on by an elephant, printed on a T-shirt, or something along those lines.

Doesn't excuse the Congressman's actions and I think criminal assault charges should be filed against him and a civil suit initiated.

[taurusowner]

You're right that it was bad form for a journalist.  But for a sitting Congressmen to act like that is beyond astounding.  How many press interviews has he been in?  How many reporters has he talked to in his political life?  Thousands?

It doesn't matter at all how the "journalist" acted.  He could could have turned the camera on, and said "Hey Congressmen, I think you're a steaming bag of #### and if you're mom got in a car accident in front of you I would laugh and piss on her body!"  And that STILL would not excuse the Etheridge for what he did.  There is simply no excuse to attack a journalist or anyone.  He should be in jail.

[Ron]

It is considered poor form for a journalist (even a blogger) to not identify himself and his agency, paper or channel, prior to beginning an interview.  Even an ambush-interview like this one.

The proper response from the Congressman, however, is not to assault, initiate false imprisonment or false arrest (grab the arm and fail to release on demand), or batter the interviewer.

A tasteless interview, with a response that is a byproduct of tasteless interviews.


And one other thing:  For all we know, the cameraman was wearing something very provocative and intended to get a rise out of the Congressman.  A dead donkey getting peed on by an elephant, printed on a T-shirt, or something along those lines.

Doesn't excuse the Congressman's actions and I think criminal assault charges should be filed against him and a civil suit initiated.

I wonder(ed) myself why they didn't elaborate further than just saying "we are students". The student who was physically assaulted was wearing a suit and tie, very obvious in the video. The cameraman was not the subject of the congressman's attention so it is unlikely he was wearing anything inflammatory. Nonetheless, getting physical with the  "ambush interviewer" cannot be excused just because it was bad journalism.

If this was a Republican assaulting young democrat students I suspect this would be all over the news, with cries for the congressman to step down.

[taurusowner]

Did this just happen today?  I see the story on Drudge but so far it's not on any Drive-By media site.

[roo_ster]

Are not average citizens (to include students) allowed to ask our elected representatives questions? 

IOW, it doesn't matter if the dude was a journalist, student, or auto mechanic.  Asking questions of elected officials, anonymously or otherwise, is what citizens ought to do as a matter of course.

I'm afraid Rep Etheridge would have been picking up his teeth had he assaulted me like that. The cockroaches do get angry when you shine the light on them.

For sure.

[AZRedhawk44]

One thing to keep in mind:

Taking a swing at a democrat Congressman in Washington DC, probably means that he has a gun and you don't, and when he shoots you and smashes the camera afterwards, the DCPD will take his side.

It's not called "Mordor on the Potomac" out of whimsy, you know.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

rumors of congressmen packing heat are greatly exaggerated

[longeyes]

Never start drinking before lunch.

[kgbsquirrel]

Anyone laying down odds on charges being filed (and sticking)?

[robear]

Front page on Foxnews.com right now.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/14/nc-congressman-physical-confrontation-students/

[taurusowner]

Hmm.  The Fox story states that he will likely hold onto his Congressional seat.  I rally hope his Republican opponent uses this video to his full advantage in the campaign.

And I had no idea this was three days ago.  If any of us did that to someone, we'd have a court appointment.  I'm sure this will get swept under the rug.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

kid needs to press charges

[Perd Hapley]

"I have a right to know who you are."  O RLY? 

[taurusowner]

[Ron]

Story hit YAHOO this afternoon via the AP:

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Democratic congressman apologized Monday after video posted online showed him swatting at a video camera and demanding that two men taping him identify themselves.

"I deeply and profoundly regret my reaction an I apologize to all involved," Rep. Bob Etheridge said in a statement. "No matter how intrusive and partisan our politics can become, this does not justify a poor response."

Etheridge, a congressman in North Carolina since 1997, reiterated his apology at a hastily called news conference Monday afternoon.

"The truth is I had a long day," he said. "I've had bad days many times. It's not a good crutch to lean on and I won't use that."

The video was posted Monday on websites owned by Andrew Breitbart, the conservative Web entrepreneur who also released video of workers for the community organizing group ACORN counseling actors posing as a pimp and prostitute.

It shows two men approaching Etheridge with a camera on a Washington street. He swats at the camera and repeatedly asks the men who they are. When they say they are students, he grabs one by the wrist and quickly by the back of the neck before pulling him against his side.

The video is interspersed with several screens of text, including: "What happens when a US congressman meets a college kid on a street in Washington?" and a few frames later, "He goes BERSERK!"

In a telephone interview from London, Breitbart declined to name the students who recorded the video, saying he wanted to protect them. The two do not work for Breitbart and were not paid, he said.

A Breitbart employee found the video online, edited it and posted it, he said. A story accompanying the video on a Breitbart website says the video was recorded last week. Etheridge declined to say when the encounter occurred.

A Breitbart website later posted what it described as unedited video of the encounter taken from two camera angles.

Etheridge's Republican opponent in the November election, Renee Ellmers, said at a news conference that the apology was not enough but also said Etheridge deserved the benefit of the doubt.

"As a mom, I am very concerned about what happened to those college kids," said Ellmers, 46, a registered nurse who decided to run for office after speaking out against the federal health care overhaul at tea party events.

State GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer, though, predicted the incident would be "devastating" to Etheridge's re-election bid.

"This is an angry man who behaved very inappropriately," Fetzer said.

___

Associated Press writers Gary D. Robertson and Tom Breen contributed to this report.

___

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100614/ap_on_re_us/us_congressman_video

[RevDisk]

Seriously, I can really understand these kids NOT giving their names to a nut job that literally grabbed them on the street.   Dude looked ...  really off. 

Punching him?  Probably not.  Twisting out and immediately pressing charges after a quick trip to the hospital to document all damage?  Yep. 

[Perd Hapley]

"I deeply and profoundly regret my reaction an I apologize to all involved," Rep. Bob Etheridge said in a statement. "No matter how intrusive and partisan our politics can become, this does not justify a poor response."

Apology fail.  There was nothing intrusive about what the students were doing, nor was it overly partisan. 

[Sergeant Bob]

Apology fail.  There was nothing intrusive about what the students were doing, nor was it overly partisan. 

Indeed. This one too;

"The truth is I had a long day," he said. "I've had bad days many times. It's not a good crutch to lean on and I won't use that."

Yet you just did, Congressman.

[longeyes]

The implication was that these kids were somehow vicious tea-baggers bent on no good.  That was no real apology.  They don't want to be questoned, held to account.

[Waitone]

Just one more reason why licensing of "journalists" is coming.  This unfortunate episode would have not occurred had "journalists" met certain standards set by those being interviewed.

Wasn't that hard, was it?

[zxcvbob]

The congressman assaults the kid and appears to have stolen his cell phone.  It's caught on video for everybody to see.  So why haven't the D.C. police arrested the kid yet for...  I dunno, annoying a congressman?  

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2521048/posts

[MechAg94]

Seriously, I can really understand these kids NOT giving their names to a nut job that literally grabbed them on the street.   Dude looked ...  really off. 

Punching him?  Probably not.  Twisting out and immediately pressing charges after a quick trip to the hospital to document all damage?  Yep. 

He really wasn't just some nut job who grabbed them on the street.  He was a Congressman who was getting ambushed for interview comments on the sidewalk.

IMO, he should have just walked away, especially when they didn't identify themselves.  Getting physical was just stupid.  Even if he was fully justified, it looks really bad and he knew he was on video.  He could have just given a BS hot air answer and walked away.  I would have thought those guys talk like that in their sleep.