Assault Charges to be Filed Against Allen Staffers

[The River]

Local Law School Student says he is pressing charges against the staffers
who assaulted him AND against Allen.

Part of his letter to the local NBC affiliate below
The rest here: http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=5615240

"My name is Mike Stark. I am a law student at the University of Virginia, a marine, and a citizen journalist. Earlier today at a public event, I was attempting to ask Senator Allen a question about his sealed divorce record and his arrest in the 1970s, both of which are in the public domain. His people assaulted me, put me in a headlock, and wrestled me to the ground. Video footage is available here, from an NBC affiliate.

snip

I will be pressing charges against George Allen and his surrogates later today. George Allen, at any time, could have stopped the fray. All he had to do was say, "This is not how my campaign is run. Take your hands off that man." He could have ignored my questions. Instead he and his thugs chose violence. I spent four years in the Marine Corps. I'll be damned if I'll let my country be taken from me by thugs that are afraid of taking responsibility for themselves."

If this doesn't flush the Macaca out of Virginia, I don't know what will!

[JuniperLea]

1. Good for him!

No one should resort to Al Capone tactics.

[durrrty libby]

You go Mike. I saw the video and Macaccawitz's people

acted like a bunch of thugs

[LonelyLRLiberal]

22. They were acting like thugs because they ARE thugs. eom

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

2. This should be good.

That cokesoaker and his thugs need to stand in front of a judge for what they did. This is NOT fascist Germany.

Yet.

[brer cat]

3. I hope he wins...big time!!

This whole episode shows how on edge the Allen camp is. They are going down and don't have a clue how to stop it.

[tridim]

4. Great! I'm still amazed that this isn't a gigantic story

Allen had his hired goons assault a reporter for gawd's sake. This isn't Sean Penn punching a camera man, this is a sitting congressman physically assaulting a reporter because he asked a question. It's big news.

[KharmaTrain]

11. If It's The Top Story On The Local 11:00 News...

and shows up on the front pages of the Virginia newspapers tomorrow, that's all that needs be done.

[Hepburn]

5. Right on!!! n/t

[FogerRox]

6. Another one bites the dust, KNR

[me b zola]

7. Just another example of republicans supporting the troops

Mr Stark is a Marine, but the republican party has made it quite clear that they will only "support the troops" when it is convenient for them.

Good on Mike Stark, I would've filed charges too.

[cspanlovr]

8. I'm so glad. Good for him.

This is not a free country anymore. So sad.

[The River]

9. I Missed The Event

(Not that I could have tolerated listening to Macaca-speak)
I was just a few blocks away at the time checking the City
records for anything news-worthy on Felix.
Turns out he was busy making a bigger mess than anything
I hoped to find in the Clerks Office.

I am past hoping now. I KNOW Web is going to win!

[vademocrat]

10. Plus, he sounds as though he'll be able to handle the news poodles -

He sounds bright and poised.

[AlCzervik]

12. good, they almost pushed that guy through a huge glass wall.

[Straight Shooter]

13. I saw that. He was inches away from getting a major concussion.

What has Allen got to hide that is so damning that his thugs resort to violence to shut someone up? Or does Allen have a case of Royal Highness-ism like bush, and thinks peons should not question him about anything?

[druidity33]

14. is Mike Stark...

the guy who was photographed holding up the "Hannity Sucks Ass" sign?

If so, i'd like to buy this guy a beer or two someday...

:toast:

[sarahlee]

17. Yes - the same Mike See my comments here:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/sarahlee/31

and

I have the screen shot with more info here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2919360&mesg_id=2919850

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

15. Now imagine if Allen were president. What he'd do with that power.

Pretty chilling, eh?

[Polemicist]

16. Mike Stark is an amazing man...

He calls into right wing radio shows and debates the hosts....and wins. And he teaches his tricks for both getting his call on the air and keeping from being hung up on or talked over by the big mouths holding the mic.

Mr. Stark is also the guy who asked Senator Allen earlier in the campaign, if he had ever used the "N-word" in his life. From what I recall, Mike asked this question in from of the regular Virginia press corps that follows the Allen Campaign. So the question and Allen's evasive answer got in the press and opened the door to a lot of media investigation into Allen's sordid racist past.

So the Allen Campaign knows exactly who Mike Stark is. And he did it again. He asked George Felix Allen if he had ever spit on his ex-wife and was that information in the sealed divorce papers that Allen refuses to allow to be released to the public. And it appears he did so after Allen left a press conference, so that the Virginia press heard his question again.

That's why the Allen staffers beat him up. They know what happened last time that Mr. Stark posed a likely true but embarrassing question to the Senator in front of the Virginia media. They were still pissed about the "N-word" question and know that event started Allen's fall in the polls. That and the Macaca verbal attack against a Webb staffer.

The GOPers are thugs and should be tossed out of office.

[Cetacea]

18. This is great news and is growing legs

:kick:

[sarahlee]

19. The Young Turks on Air America Has Hired Mike Stark

What this country needs are more journalists willing to ask tough questions. I know one such person - Mike Stark. Mike's questions are so tough, he gets tackled for them. Senator Allen's campaign staff assaulted Mike after he asked them perfectly relevant questions about the Senator's divorce and arrest records.

Senator Allen is a public official - and one who runs on family values. Mike Stark was asking for records that might or might not show whether the Senator lives up to his campaign talk. And I can't imagine a more relevant question than why a Senator won't reveal his arrest record. There are far more questions that the Allen campaign has to answer for, let alone every other campaign, and the entire Bush administration.

In light of the fact that Mike has shown an ability to ask questions others are not willing to ask, for the benefit and education of the public, I am proud to announce that "The Young Turks" on Air America Radio has hired Mike Stark to be a reporter for the show.

I've known Mike for awhile now. He is attending the University of Virginia law school and he is a United States Marine. Once a Marine, Always a Marine. Semper Fi means something to Mike Stark. George Allen ought to look it up (perhaps in his divorce records).

Mike is smart, tough, well educated, dedicated and obviously courageous. This country needs more reporters like Mike Stark. I am proud to be part of an organization that is going to give people like Mike an opportunity to ask more tough questions of our elected officials. The people have a right to know.

And we're not done. We plan to hire more reporters in the future to cover political events around the country for us. If the mainstream press won't ask the questions, then we will.

I only wish we had hired Mike earlier and he could have been in the room to ask the White House about the Downing Street Memos, Jeff Gannon, the weapons of mass destruction, etc., etc. So many questions needed to be asked and weren't. We hope to change that.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/the-young-turks-on-air-am_b_33019.html

[Dr Fate]

21. 3 cheers for Mike Stark- a great journalist & hero!!! n/t

n/t

[sarahlee]

23. Did you read the ordinary hero piece on Mike

that was posted at mydd?

If not, I reposted it here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2919360&mesg_id=2919850

[chill_wind]

20. It was VIOLENT and we should never, ever get accustomed

to seeing this kind of physical brutality against free speech being dealt out by members of the government and/or their surrogates.

[upi402]

24. SIGN UP on Mr Stark's blog. He stood up for all of us and took some blows.

http://www.callingallwingnuts.com/subscriptions/

better yet, donate.

[sarahlee]

25. Mike writes: My side

Mike posted this today:

Anyway, I thought I'd share this remarkable link with you. It's remarkable in the sense that I'm not used to media providing uncut and unedited coverage like this. I've been miscast and characterized as a heckler, a protester - the verbiage of my questions has been widely mis-reported... I just think it's great that they've allowed this video to speak for itself. Channel 19, a CBS affiliate in Charlottesville, filmed me watching the video they had of the assault. Afterward, we discussed it. The only edit was a chop of a private phone call I received. It's 11 minutes long...

I've also written what I think is an important piece for the Huffington Post.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/11/2/132654/180

[upi402]

26. He has a right to protest or heckle if he would decide to, huh?

Question the Republican gestapo and risk getting your head rammed through plate glass.
Try to protest the politicians (R) who work for you and do it in cattle pens called "free speech zones".

I mean when did thus become common practice? Oh yeah, after the 2000 election. This stuff is not American, therefore is unAmerican.