[Updates at the bottom of this posting. Most recent update at 7:41 pm CST]
On Thursday, August 6, the White House call to arms by Deputy Chief of Staff David Axelrod, “punch back twice as hard“, at the growing grass roots movement opposing government single-payer health care produced the first violent incident later in the day. During a Town Hall Meeting with U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan at Bernard Middle School gym in south St. Louis County, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) members dressed in dark purple shirts, though they look blue in the video below, attacked a black American protester by savagely beating him. The protester ended up in the Emergency Room of St. John’s Mercy Medical Center.
From the article:
Kenneth Gladney, a 38-year-old conservative activist from St. Louis, said he was attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow flags with “Don’t tread on me” printed on them. He spoke to the [St. Louis] Post-Dispatch from the emergency room of the St. John’s Mercy Medical Center, where he said he was waiting to be treated for injuries to his knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face that he suffered in the attack. Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man, used a racial slur against him before the attack started.
“It just seems there’s no freedom of speech without being attacked,” he said.
The SEIU Blueshirts really put a huge hole in Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer’s theory that this growing grass-roots movement are nothing but well-dressed swastika placard carrying Nazi’s.
A previous American Catholic article accurately foretold the coming violent reaction from the liberals.
(Biretta tip: Seton Motley of NewsBusters)
Update I: Gateway Pundit has some analsysis here. (Biretta tip: Notes on the Culture Wars)
Update II: Patterico has incisive analysis here. (Biretta tip: Notes on the Culture Wars)
Update III: A video of what occurred inside the Carnahan Town Hall.
Update IV: Neil Cavuto of Fox News interviewed Kenneth Gladney, the American that was savagely beaten by SEIU Blueshirts. Mr. Gladney was asked if he was put up to this, which Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer find it impossible that backs and hispanics can make up their own minds, and Mr. Gladney emphatically state “no”. He just wanted to be part of the process. Another liberal bubble burst that blacks and hispanics want to work hard as Americans and don’t want money handed over to them hand over fist. (Biretta tip: Matthew Balan of NewsBusters)
I just realized that Donald had posted about this incident earlier on one of his updates, but it goes without saying that these protests are drawing violent reactions from proponents of government intrusion.
It’s an important event Tito and it needs all the exposure it can get. Great post!
Just flat-out disgusted.
No less because I’ve already seen folks blaming… dum dum dum… opponents of the healthcare boondoggle for the violence. (How dare that fellow violently attack the union members’ shoes?)
I rather be called an American, but for the sake of argument…
Latinos are predominantly more conservative, traditional, and orthodox in their Catholic faith than liberals lead on. Once we find someone who can break this liberal stereotype, the floodgates will open when Latino’s realize that there are more platforms within the GOP than in the Democratic Party that reflects their own values.
This whole health reform mess gets uglier by the day.
At what point do the Democrats back off?
Mr. H
http://www.allhands-ondeck.blogspot.com/
At what point can any Catholic in good conscience and of good-will be associated with the party of death?
At first I was outraged by the barbaric violence found on this video but on further reflection this is a predictable natural outcome for a party that accepts abortion as the paramount plank in its platform. If you accept murder, then on what grounds would you object to anything that amounts to less?
[…] their part in painting these town halls as darkly as possible, regardless of the evidence that SEIU goons, Blueshirts, have already attacked health care […]
Marlene,
Please be more careful in stating your opinions and refrain from what may be perceived as racist remarks.
Wait, I’m confused. Gladney is the black guy lying on the ground where the white guy is trying to kick him, right? Why is Gladney wearing a “Health Care 09: We Can’t Wait” t-shirt? That’s an SEIU shirt.
Or is Gladney the guy who gets knocked down right after, while he’s rushing over to the downed SEIU guy? Because that guy gets right back up and is walking around throughout the rest of the video. Did he get some sort of delayed-onset injury, where you can walk around, chat with a cameraman, flag down the cops, and speak just fine on Fox News the next day, but then the day after that you can hardly move?
Gladney is the *skinny* black guy wearing a tan polo shirt; the one that purple-shirt-blue-jeans-hat on the right throws to the ground again at about 0:05, while the camera guy is trying to get what the heck is up.
Can’t see who you think is rushing over, because you can see Gladney being pulled to his feet (and swaying) by the guy who looks like retired military, the one that directs a lady to pick up the button-boards.
The fat guy in the purple shirt is the one that called him a n****r and first attacked him, if I understand it correctly– he’s on the ground because folks pulled him off Gladney. (and if that’s an attempt to kick, they suck– cheap shot would be dead easy there)
I’m wondering– have you ever been hurt? It often takes at least five minutes after an attack before you realize how hurt you are. I know that when I got bucked off and dislocated my shoulder, I didn’t know it was damaged until I couldn’t lift it to climb the fence.
Unless you’re going to claim that the hospital treated him for imaginary injuries….
Update on the guy mistaken for Gladney:
Elston K. McCowan is a former organizer – now the Public Service Director of SEIU Local 2000 – and board member of the Walbridge Community Education Center, and is a Baptist minister, has been a community organizer for more than 23 years, and now, he is running for Mayor of the City of St. Louis under the Green Party.
He’s…kind of known for nutty behavior, since he accused the mayor of setting fire to his/church/Green campaign van….
[…] belongs with those who are organized by the political Left. In this case, they seem to be “blueshirts,” members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) who have gotten their marching […]
[…] In case the above YouTube video is taken down by the Blueshirts, you can see the entire story and video […]