# Congressman attacks student for daring to ask him a question **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 15, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227 "2010-06-15T00:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/41 "2010-06-15T04:03:02Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Part of living in a society, IMO, is that you don’t throw things at people when they piss you off. What did he throw? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/42 "2010-06-15T04:09:16Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > What did he throw? Etheridge? He threw his hand behind the kid’s head. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/43 "2010-06-15T04:22:20Z")
This is what I saw in the video: A guy is heckled, he get’s annoyed and smacks the camera. Not the best thing, but it’s human. Then the kid gets in his face asking “questions” and the guy grabs his wrist to say “you are pissing me off here buddy” But some of you people… Damn. I see posts in this thread that are trying to infer that that the kid was curb-stomped by the congressmen. It is NOT EVEN REMOTELY VIOLENT. Hell, “punch buggy” is more violent. There was nothing thrown, there was no punches thrown, there wasn’t even a shove. You are losing your shit over an incident where nobody even shoved the other. What the fuck is that about? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/44 "2010-06-15T04:26:09Z")
Well, liberal hypocrisy, of course. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/45 "2010-06-15T04:26:23Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > What did he throw? OK, he didn’t throw anything–but you mentioned hitting someone with a blunt object in your post so I was just going off that. > [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > I see posts in this thread that are trying to infer that that the kid was curb-stomped by the congressmen. It is NOT EVEN REMOTELY VIOLENT. Hell, “punch buggy” is more violent. There was nothing thrown, there was no punches thrown, there wasn’t even a shove. You are losing your shit over an incident where nobody even shoved the other. What the fuck is that about? In what world is grabbing someone’s wrist and then putting your arm around their neck not violent? If I know you and we’re good friends, then yeah, maybe you can do that to me. But if you don’t know me–no. You don’t get to touch me at all. Especially not like that. To me, that’s assault. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/46 "2010-06-15T04:27:51Z")
**John Bernard Books** : \*I won’t be wronged. I won’t be insulted. I won’t be laid a-hand on. I don’t do these things to other people, and I require the same from them. \*- **The Shootist** Etheridge laid a-hand on that kid. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/47 "2010-06-15T04:28:16Z")
[This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo6aHSY8hU) is apropos. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/48 "2010-06-15T04:35:42Z")
And let’s stop calling the guy a “kid”. He’s a full grown man. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/49 "2010-06-15T04:43:21Z")
No he wasn’t. He was a young, puny kid. Etheridge had height, weight, reach, and attitude on the kid. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/50 "2010-06-15T04:51:57Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > No he wasn’t. He was a young, puny kid. Etheridge had height, weight, reach, and attitude on the kid. I’ll give you the height, but do you honestly the 20 year old couldn’t have broken out of the 57 year old pencil pusher’s wrist grip of death? Answer me a question.: If you were a cop and saw this, would you charge anybody with assault? ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/51 "2010-06-15T05:11:01Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > Did you watch the same video I did? Granted the student sticks the mike in his face to get a comment, but he grabs the kid’s wrist and holds it for quite a long time, even after the student asks him to let go. Then he grabs him by the neck _and_ restrains him by putting his arm around his shoulders **AND THE STUDENT NEVER EVER TOUCHED HIM.** > > I don’t necessarly blame him for being a bit wary but that was some serious paranoia and over-the-top defensiveness. (bolding mine) The video was heavily edited. We don’t actually know this. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/52 "2010-06-15T05:14:04Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > I’ll give you the height, but do you honestly the 20 year old couldn’t have broken out of the 57 year old pencil pusher’s wrist grip of death? Well, yeah. He was a little twerp. Seriously, I wouldn’t call it a vicious attack, but it _was_ assault (remember, assault = threat of battery, not necessarily actual violence). Sure, if you want to measure him against Sean Penn or Buzz Aldrin, he was restrained, but why on earth would you consider those the standard to measure reactions to mildly annoying questions? Further, Penn and Aldrin aren’t elected officials. This guy is. Public image is everything. He acted without due provocation based on the evidence provided. Granted, as we’ve seen with O’Keefe, the evidence provided may not be anywhere near the whole story. But it’s awful hard to take Etheridge’s actions out of context, unless the twerp insulted his mother or something. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/53 "2010-06-15T05:22:11Z")
Turns out that this ‘student’ was a plant by Breitbart. You know, the guy who set up that whole ACORN nonsense. This is why we try to get context before snap judgments. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/54 "2010-06-15T05:29:57Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > The video has been taken down but from what you guys are saying, it certainly sounds like an assault. You don’t touch people you don’t know and you certainly don’t grab or restrain them in any way. But you do shove cameras in their faces and block the sidewalk and keep pestering them with inanities. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/55 "2010-06-15T05:30:33Z")
> [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](#): > > Turns out that this ‘student’ was a plant by Breitbart. You know, the guy who set up that whole ACORN nonsense. This is why we try to get context before snap judgments. So what? Nobody’s going to care. Even if he was 100% justified in his actions, that’s not what’s going to get played on every TV network for the next week. Like I said: > [@Bosstone](#): > > The proper answer to such a possibility is to not give them any ammunition. This way they didn’t even have to fake footage. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/56 "2010-06-15T05:32:18Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > You don’t get to touch me at all. Especially not like that. To me, that’s assault. What a bunch if whiny babies the right has become. “He touched me, wah, wah, wah.” ETA: and by the way, it would be battery. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/57 "2010-06-15T05:54:01Z")
> [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](#): > > Turns out that this ‘student’ was a plant by Breitbart. You know, the guy who set up that whole ACORN nonsense. This is why we try to get context before snap judgments. Does that matter, though? Even if he is, that doesn’t give the guy the right to knock his camera away or grab him. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/58 "2010-06-15T06:32:46Z")
I know that the rep was ambushed on a public street, but inebriated or not he should be well trained by this point in time that if someone accosts you asking questions, if you are not up to answering at that specific time to reach into your pocket, get out a card and tell the people to contact your secretary for an appointment as you will not answer questions on the street. It is called impulse control, most people tend to learn it by that age if they are in the political realm [well, maybe not bill clinton or any kennedy:rolleyes:] As it came off, I don’t care if the kid was pushy and assholish, you still don’t grab them, that becomes battery. You can turn and walk away stating no comment, not grabbing someone and repeatedly asking them who they are. It wasnt like the kid had him shoved in a corner in an alley. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/59 "2010-06-15T06:40:03Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Does that matter, though? Even if he is, that doesn’t give the guy the right to knock his camera away or grab him. Yes, it does matter. This is not an innocent kid. This is a guy who purposely picked a fight and then filmed the reaction. You might as well rally behind Tom Green or Ashton Kutcher. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/60 "2010-06-15T06:44:40Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > You can turn and walk away stating no comment,. I don’t think the “kid” was going to let him do that. “I want my two dollars!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227.md?page=4)