I was punched at a Donald Trump rally. His message of hate caused the violence
Source: The Guardian
I was punched at a Donald Trump rally. His message of hate caused the violence
The man who hit me should be held responsible for his actions.
But the violent rhetoric against peaceful protest and torrent of
internet rumors start with Trump
Bryan Sanders
Monday 28 March 2016 19.30 BST
I don’t bear Tony Pettway, the man who sucker-punched me when I was peacefully protesting at a Donald Trump rally in Tucson last week, any ill will. I think he was just caught up in the moment. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to him; his career in the air force is already going to be messed up.
What happened to me is a tragedy that comes straight from Donald Trump. He created the situation where people come and protest at his rallies because of what he says; he tells his supporters that “in the old days the protester would be taken out on a stretcher”. He says that he’d like to punch a protester in the face. He offers to pay the legal bills of somebody who punches a protester. Pettway is responsible for his own actions, but it’s Trump’s violent, hateful message that is creating this situation.
In a way, what happened afterwards was worse. By the Sunday after the rally, I woke up with these crazy viral stories about me online. I had messages of support from around the world, but also immense amounts of hate and lies being spread about me.
Trump had lied about me on George Stephanopoulos’ show on ABC after the protest. He said I was a professional agitator, and the rightwing blogosphere immediately followed it with a half-dozen articles.
They said I must have used a racial slur to incite Pettway to hit me. They said I assaulted him first – despite the clear video evidence that I did not. They said endless things about me; that I was a plant of George Soros, or the Bernie Sanders campaign, or the Hillary Clinton campaign. None of those things are true.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2016/mar/28/donald-trump-rally-punch-hate-violence
= new reply since forum marked as read
not a vet I am proud to be associated with. He's a pig, racist fascist who deserves jail time for a hate crime. Big heart on the punchee, but a little to kind to someone who would have had him hung 50-60 years ago, right outside the venue so that all walking out could see.
