Was a Riverside Man Assaulted at a Claremont Health Care Debate?

Watching this past August's commentary on the health care debate, I'm more and more convinced by what Judge Andrew Napolitano has said, that the camera is the 21st century equivalent of the gun. Reading the report of what allegedly happened to Charles Cox, a pro-life activist, at a Claremont Townhall meeting, I'm wishing he had been armed with a video camera.

Here's the account in The Contra Costa Times.

CLAREMONT - A Riverside man injured his knee after he allegedly tried to disrupt a meeting on health care Thursday night, people attending a townhall meeting said.

Charles Cox, 21, of Survivors of Abortion Holocaust entered the Padua Room at the Alexander Hughes Community Center three times trying to shout down the discussion, observers claimed.

Before his injury, Cox said he was at the meeting because he felt the health care bill would tax financed abortions.

Cox said he was pushed by a man and fell on his knee, dislocating it. Observers said he tried to slip in the meeting through a side door for the second time, was pushed back and then injured.
Cox's group is a Christian, pro-life activism organization, according to its Web site at www.survivors.la.

The first time Cox entered the building and tried to raise points yelling, but he was led out physically, which caused some observers to question officials' tactics.

The Claremont Police Department was at the meeting and said it would not discuss what happened until everything was sorted out. Officers were seen questioning people at the scene.

The meeting, hosted by the Peace and Justice Committee of the Religious Society of Friends and the Claremont Democratic Club, had been formed to discuss health issues.

Here's the account in elsewhere. But boy, would I like to see some video before making up my own mind!

Pro-Lifers Attacked by Claremont Town Hall Meeting Staff, Others Threatened
Contact: Charles Cox, Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, 559-308-2873

CLAREMONT, Calif., Aug. 28 /Christian Newswire/ -- Pro-life activists were attacked Thursday, August 27th, while voicing dissent at a town hall meeting in Claremont, CA. The meeting, held in the Alexander Hughes Center, was intended as a forum for discussing the health care reform bill currently in the House, HR 3200. The 7 p.m. event was hosted by the Democratic Club of Claremont.

Cox, a representative from the pro-life group, Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, says he attended the meeting, "to discuss a bill which opens the floodgates to tax-funding for abortion."

At around 7:20 p.m., a representative from Progressive Christians United stood up to speak in favor of HR 3200. Cox, who was seated in the second row, retorted that tax-funded abortion was not something Christians should support.

The speaker motioned asked that Cox be removed. Approximately 10 people assisted in removing him.

Claremont police later declared that the individuals had no right to remove Cox, and he was readmitted into the meeting.

At approximately 7:45 p.m. another speaker asked that a man be removed for booing, and warned that any others who booed would be removed as well. When a woman associated with the event attempted to pull the man from his seat, he cried, "Don't touch me! I'm a lawyer. I'll sue you."

Cox then shouted, "You can't remove him just because he disagrees with you." At this, a crowd of people forcefully removed Cox from the room again.

Cox reentered through a side door where people were listening in on the meeting. The panel continued to threaten those who disagreed with the removal and threats. After a few minutes, a staff member for the event, Rudy Mann, noticed Cox and began to choke him. Mann pushed Cox to the ground by applying pressure to his handicapped knee, causing it to dislocate.

When another member of Survivors attempted to film the incident, she was shoved by the host of the event, Zehpyr Tate-Mann, in an attempt to block the camcorder.

Paramedics arrived and provided medical aide to Cox.

According to officer Christopher Abarca, Mann was arrested and brought to jail.

"It seems that the Democratic Club of Claremont was only interested in hearing one side of the story," said Cox. "And so they chose to use violence as a means to silence opposition."

I wasn't there when this happened, but somehow I find myself more inclined to believe Charles Cox's version of the story. It seems a tad bit more credible...

I wonder what the outcry would be from the Left, if a group of right leaning people forced someone out of a public, townhall event. Yeah, they would probably call them 'Nazis', 'un-American', etc., sort of like they are already doing.

Eagerly Awaiting Superfreakonomics Speaker at the Ath

I'm almost ashamed to admit that Freakonomics was one of the first books on economics I had ever read. (The first -- no joke -- was Das Kapital.) Freakonomics was one of the books read by the school's high school economics class, which I never took, preferring to go through the entire syllabus on my leisure.

So it should come as no surprise that I'm super excited about the sequel, SuperFreakonomics, and the fact that one of its authors, Steven Levitt, will be coming to speak at the Athenaeum this semester. The date of his talk -- October 22nd -- is 21st my birthday, as luck would have it, and what better Ath talk to toast to! I hope to rise bright and early so that I might sit at the head table, ever mindful of potential waterboarding -- err, "pondings."

And to whet my appetite I've been reading Dr. Levitt's blog, where he recently wrote about my second favorite sport --after poker, of course -- competitive eating and record breaking memory. Human achievement, at least in so far as food and memory, it seems, is limitless. Julian Simon would be proud.

Exit question: When Levitt takes the podium, can somebody please play she's a super freak?