In his upcoming book, Pat Buchanan gives special thanks to his researcher Marcus Epstein — a former staffer for Tom Tancredo who became infamous for a racist karate chopping incident in 2007.
“Special thanks to Marcus Epstein,” Buchanan’s acknowledgment says, “for the invaluable assistance and untold hours he devoted to researching idea, issues, and anecdotes.”
But Epstein became famous after the following incident:
On July 7, 2007, at approximately 7:15 p.m. at Jefferson and M Street, Northwest, in Washington, D.C., defendant was walking down the street making offensive remarks when he encountered the complainant, Ms. [REDACTED], who is African-American. The defendant uttered, “Nigger,” as he delivered a karate chop to Ms. [REDACTED]’s head.
Epstein entered an Alford Plea to the charges in 2008, meaning he pleaded guilty in court but did not admit to committing the act. But the incident didn’t come to light until 2009 because of his growing influence in the right-wing anti-immigration sphere, and because of his role as the executive director of The American Cause, Buchanan’s anti-immigration group, and former Rep. Tom Tancredo’s PAC.
As TPM reported at the time, Epstein’s Facebook page included a photo album of his trip to Ethiopia — since removed — that included pictures like one of him standing next to some baboons with the caption “mixing with the locals.”
Tancredo, of course, is known for being anti-immigration, and at one point said that we should just send President Obama back to Kenya. And Buchanan, an MSNBC commentator, once argued that Hitler didn’t really want war.
h/t Media Matters.
