Remember summer? Remember the yelling, the fighting, the biting? Ever think about the St. Louis town hall that ended in a fistfight, or the protest that ended in a severed finger, or those guys who brought guns to presidential events? Ever wonder, where are they now?
Us too! So TPM tracked down some of the best stories from this summer’s health care meltdown to see what’s happened since.
The Guy Who Punched A 65-Year-Old In The Face
Outside of a town hall meeting with Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) this September, a man named Raul Anasagasti was driving his pickup truck past the crowd when he began exchanging words with health care supporters. When one of the protesters, 65-year-old Luis Perrero, uttered an offensive Spanish expletive, Anasagasti punched him in the face. The blow knocked Perrero to the ground. Anasagasti was charged with battery on a person 65 years or older.
Anasagasti reached a plea deal with prosecutors last week and will attend anger management classes. He also has to perform 50 hours of community service and stay away from Perrero. (Hat tip to Sen. Nelson for tweeting the update.)
The Guy Who Became A Martyr For Tea Partiers Everywhere
Early in August, a brawl broke out outside an overpacked town hall near St Louis, Mo. Kenneth Gladney, who was at the town hall selling “Don’t Tread On Me” flags, allegedly got into a fight with some SEIU staffers, and six people were arrested.
Gladney became a martyr for right-wingers. He appeared at a rally soon after the fight in a wheelchair, pleading for help with medical bills because he had no insurance. He rode the Tea Party Express bus and spoke to crowds. He was given the “Family Advocate Award” by a group called the Public Advocate of the United States. Big names such as Glenn Beck and Andrew Breitbart have defended him, calling for his alleged assaulters to be charged with hate crimes.
But the charges came down a couple weeks ago, and for Gladney supporters, it’s not much. All six came out with misdemeanors. The two SEIU staffers accused of beating up Gladney — the Rev. Elston McCowan and Perry Molens — are charged with assaulting a person and interfering with police. Two other men were charged with interfering, and another was charged with failing “to leave the site of an ongoing disturbance.”
Gladney’s alleged attackers face a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
“I’m mad as I-don’t-know-what about this,” Gladney told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It seems like average people can’t get justice.”
The Guy Who Bit Off Another Guy’s Finger
In perhaps the most outrageous incident this summer, a health care supporter bit off part of the finger of a health care opponent at a rally in California. Here’s what (allegedly) happened: William Rice, who opposed health care reform, went to the small counterprotest of a much larger pro-reform demonstration. While there, a man from the pro-reform side crossed the street to talk to Rice. Words were exchanged, and Rice allegedly punched the other man in the face. A fight ensued, and the man bit off part of Rice’s pinkie finger.
Bystanders captured video of the biter fleeing the scene, and police were able to get some clear pictures of him.
So, three months later, have they caught him? Nope.
“We can’t locate him, and no one ever came forward,” a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department tells TPM. “I have a suspicion he was from out of the Ventura County area.”
The Guy Who Carried An Assault Rifle To A Presidential Event
In August, Christopher Broughton was spotted carrying an assault rifle at a protest outside an event with President Obama. As we reported at the time, Broughton’s stunt was cleared with local Arizona police first, and organized by a man who had defended a ’90s-era militia. TPM Muckraker dived into Broughton’s background and found out that his pastor had delivered anti-Obama sermons and prayed for the president to die. The Secret Service looked into the pastor.
Broughton popped up earlier this month in a Facebook picture alongside a Republican candidate for Congress, Adam Kokesh. Broughton and Kokesh had worked together on the Ron Paul presidential campaign, and both attended the screening of a documentary about the campaign. Kokesh, who’s running for one of New Mexico’s seats in the House, called Broughton “an incredible gun rights activist.”
