The anti-reform finger biting victim wouldn’t speak to us here at TPM. But he would speak to FNC’s Neil Cavuto just moments ago.
William J. Rice, 65, verified much of the story we’ve pieced together today. The pro-reform biter — who Rice called “a deranged individual” — had words with Rice at a small anti-reform demonstration across the street from a large pro-reform rally in southern California last night.
Rice said the pro-reformer called him an idiot, to which Rice responded with a punch. Rice said he also threw a second punch, which landed in the man’s mouth. Then, “a scuffle ensued and he ate my finger in the process.”
Here’s where things get a little weird. The AP, citing a hospital spokesperson, reported earlier that Rice’s finger was reattached — courtesy of Medicare. But Rice now says that he was told that because of “the bacteria involved in a human bite, the chances of it surviving a reattachment were almost zero.” Goodbye, pinky.
Rice said he left the severed digit at the hospital. “I thought about maybe bringing it home and having it bronzed and wearing it around my neck,” he kind of joked.
Cavuto called Rice a cult hero who gave an appendage in the cause of protest. “I’m no hero,” Rice said. “The heroes are in Afghanistan and Iraq right now.” Rice later added that “freedom is not free.”
Rice also said he won’t sue, he’ll turn and run if he sees the biter again, and that he thinks there’s “something much more devious than health care” at play in our national debate. “I think health care is how we are being diverted while the government grabs what’s left of our freedom away from us.”
To be fair, Rice added a few minutes later that “I’m medicated right now.”
Late Update: We’ve talked to the hospital, and resolved the apparent confusion over whether Rice’s pinky was reattached or not. It was not.
Later Update: Here’s the video from Rice’s TV appearance.
