Viewers of Tuesday’s Bloomberg News/Washington Post debate at Dartmouth College caught the sound of an unintelligible heckler of stage near the end of the forum. The candidates and moderator Charlie Rose seemed to hear the sounds of a man yelling, but the mics didn’t pick up what he was saying.
Now, a report out of New Hampshire says the heckler was a veteran upset at the booing of an active-duty gay solider in Iraq at a September debate in Orlando.
From Patch.com:
Andrew Vera of Hanover…said he spoke up Tuesday night right after Rick Santorum finished speaking about restoring “American values.”
“I said, ‘Yeah, right, you say you want American Values back in the American Family, then where were you, when they booed the gay soldier during the last debate,'” Vera emailed in response to Patch questions. “Let’s get real. As an Iraq Veteran, I think it’s pitiful.”
“As they pulled me out, I screamed, ‘don’t taze me, don’t taze me.”
Vera told Patch he’s a Navy vet and Dartmouth graduate. The site links to this Village Voice story from 2008 where Vera questioned John McCain about veteran’s health benefits.
