Republican candidate 'body-slams' Guardian reporter in Montana

[GMDino]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/24/greg-gianforte-bodyslams-reporter-ben-jacobs-montana?CMP=edit_2221

Quote:Audio obtained of Greg Gianforte attacking a reporter on eve of a special election to fill a congressional seat vacated by a member of the Trump administration






The Republican candidate for Montana’s congressional seat slammed a Guardian reporter to the floor on the eve of the state’s special election, breaking his glasses and shouting, “Get the hell out of here.”


Ben Jacobs, a Guardian political reporter, was asking Greg Gianforte, a tech millionaire running for the seat vacated by Ryan Zinke, about the Republican healthcare plan when the candidate allegedly “body-slammed” the reporter.


“He took me to the ground,” Jacobs said by phone from the back of an ambulance. “This is the strangest thing that has ever happened to me in reporting on politics.”

GOP candidate has financial ties to US-sanctioned Russian companies

 
Read more
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Jacobs subsequently reported the incident to the police. The Gallatin County sheriff’s office is investigating the incident.


A statement by campaign spokesman Shane Scanlon blamed Jacobs for the incident, saying that he “entered the office without permission, aggressively shoved a recorder in Greg’s face, and began asking badgering questions”.


“Jacobs was asked to leave,” the statement reads. “After asking Jacobs to lower the recorder, Jacobs declined. Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Greg’s wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground.


“It’s unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ.”


Scanlon’s account appears to be contradicted by audio of the abortive interview recorded by Jacobs. The audio does not capture Jacobs being asked to leave or lower his recorder, but does contain an apparent reference to the Guardian’s previous attempts to report on Gianforte. “I’m sick and tired of you guys,” Gianforte said. “The last guy who came here did the same thing. Get the hell out of here. Get the hell out of here. The last guy did the same thing. Are you with the Guardian?”


“Yes! You just broke my glasses,” Jacobs replied.



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 Ben Jacobs with his broken glasses being carted off in the ambulance. Photograph: Ben Jacobs for the Guardian


“The last guy did the same damn thing,” Gianforte said.


“You just body slammed me and broke my glasses,” Jacobs said.


“Get the hell out of here,” Gianforte yelled.


The altercation took place at Gianforte’s campaign headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. Gianforte was in a side room with a local television news crew when Jacobs attempted to ask his question, according to Jacobs.


“I decided there was no harm in asking one question, and the worst thing that could happen was they would tell me to go to hell,” Jacobs said.


Jacobs’s account was partially confirmed by BuzzFeed News reporter Alexis Levinson, who wrote on Twitter that she had been in an adjacent room during the incident.


“This happened behind a half closed door, so I didn’t see it all, but here’s what it looked like from the outside – Ben walked into a room where a local tv crew was set up for an interview with Gianforte. All of a sudden I heard a giant crash and saw Ben’s feet fly in the air as he hit the floor. Heard very angry yelling (as did all the volunteers in the room) – sounded like Gianforte...”


Levinson later tweeted that Gianforte left the event without speaking and that the Gallatin County Sheriffs department was taking witness statements.


Levinson told the Guardian by phone that before the incident, she overheard Gianforte’s staff telling Jacobs that the campaign was upset with the Guardian’s previous reporting and that the candidate would likely not have time to talk to him. Jacobs then entered the side room to try to talk to Gianforte.


She said that the crash from the altercation was very loud and interrupted the entire office: “Everyone in the room heard it. Everyone in the room went silent.” She also said it wasn’t clear who might have directly witnessed the clash, adding “Ben walked out holding his glasses that were visibly broken and said, ‘He just body-slammed me’.”

Gallatin County sheriff Brian Gootkin confirmed to the Guardian that his department was “currently investigating” the incident and declined to comment further.
The special election has attracted national attention, and spending has reached $17m as the race has tightened. Democrat Rob Quist is a political novice and folksinger. Quist declined to comment on the altercation when approached by reporters on Wednesday.

Quote:

[url=https://twitter.com/daveweigel] Follow
Dave Weigel 

@daveweigel
Quist responds (sort of)
7:56 PM - 24 May 2017

Gianforte is a tech mogul who mounted an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 2016.

On 28 April, Jacobs reported on Gianforte’s financial ties to Russian companies that have been sanctioned by the US. Gianforte’s wealth is estimated at between $65m and $315m.

I miss the old days when you could kick that guys ass.  I hope Trump pays for his legal costs.  #MAGA

[Yojimbo]

He has now been cited with misdemeanor assault.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/national/reporters-accuse-montana-congressional-candidate-greg-gianforte-of-assault



A Fox News crew was in the room at Gianforte’s campaign headquarters in Bozeman when Jacobs walked in.

“Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him,” reporter Alicia Acuna wrote on the Fox News website. She said the three-member team “watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the man, as he moved on top the reporter and began yelling something to the effect of “I’m sick and tired of this!” 
Acuna added: “To be clear, at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte.” She said the Fox crew had given statements to investigators.

[Belsnickel]

(05-25-2017, 08:44 AM)Yojimbo Wrote: He has now been cited with misdemeanor assault.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/national/reporters-accuse-montana-congressional-candidate-greg-gianforte-of-assault

I had originally heard felony assault, glad it is misdemeanor, though. Felony would have been asinine.

Larry Sabato had a tweet with good news for Gianforte, apparently you can use campaign funds for anger management.

In all seriousness, this was one guy and this wasn't too rough on the questioning. Members of Congress have half a dozen phones shoved in their face with multiple questions being asked all the time. This may have been a bad day for him, but that doesn't excuse assault, and fleeing the scene, and the idiocy of releasing a statement that has seemingly been contradicted by the audio already (I say seemingly because editing can do wonders).

All in all, it's hard to say what kind of impact this will have. Two Montana newspapers pulled their endorsements, but because Montana is such a wide open state, it has a lot of mail in voting and so this may not have a huge impact. What it will do is muddy the waters on this being a bellwether for Democrats looking towards 2018. This event makes the race an anomaly in any statistical models.

[GMDino]

(05-25-2017, 09:02 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: I had originally heard felony assault, glad it is misdemeanor, though. Felony would have been asinine.

Larry Sabato had a tweet with good news for Gianforte, apparently you can use campaign funds for anger management.

In all seriousness, this was one guy and this wasn't too rough on the questioning. Members of Congress have half a dozen phones shoved in their face with multiple questions being asked all the time. This may have been a bad day for him, but that doesn't excuse assault, and fleeing the scene, and the idiocy of releasing a statement that has seemingly been contradicted by the audio (I say seemingly because editing can do wonders).

1) this reporter had written an article showing the candidate's ties to Russian firms that are under sanctions.

2) I heard on the radio this morning (anecdotally) that another reporter mentioned the incident to a gas station attendant on the way to cover the story and the employee said "My kind of politician".  So he'll probably win anyway.

Kick their ass and all that. #MAGA

[Belsnickel]

(05-25-2017, 09:07 AM)GMDino Wrote: 1) this reporter had written an article showing the candidate's ties to Russian firms that are under sanctions.

2) I heard on the radio this morning (anecdotally) that another reporter mentioned the incident to a gas station attendant on the way to cover the story and the employee said "My kind of politician".  So he'll probably win anyway.

Kick their ass and all that. #MAGA

This thread of tweets sums up my feelings on this: https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/867716102062825472

[GMDino]

(05-25-2017, 09:35 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: This thread of tweets sums up my feelings on this: https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/867716102062825472

Excellent.

[GMDino]

So there is confirmation of the events...from a FOX reporter...and the candidate lied about it before he found out there was audio of the event.

http://www.newshounds.us/mt_republican_candidate_gianforte_assaults_a_reporter_then_lies_about_it_052417

Quote:MT Republican Candidate Gianforte Assaults A Reporter, Then Lies About It


The eve of a tight Congressional special election in Montana turned violent as Republican candidate Greg Gianforte assaulted a reporter who tried to ask a question. Fox’s Alicia Acuna has written about what she witnessed and she includes an audio of the incident. It’s very, very disturbing.

In her account on FoxNews.com, Acuna says she was setting up in advance of a scheduled interview with Gianforte along with her field producer and photographer. While she and her crew with chatting with Gianforte before the interview, Acuna wrote, a reporter from The Guardian, Ben Jacobs, persistently asked Gianforte for a response to the Congressional Budget Office score of the American Health Care Act, i.e. “Trumpcare.”  

Quote:At that point, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the man, as he moved on top the reporter and began yelling something to the effect of "I'm sick and tired of this!"
[…]
To be clear, at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte, who left the area after giving statements to local sheriff's deputies. 

As Acuna noted, Gianforte has issued a statement blaming Jacobs:

Gianforte's statement: pic.twitter.com/WVNdA1yZ8w

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 25, 2017

As Media Matters’ Eric Boehlert noted, presumably Gianforte issued that statement before he knew there was audio proving it a lie. Gianforte is not heard to ask Jacobs to lower his recorder in the audio of the incident.

It’s not surprising that Gianforte should be feeling edgy. Just today, Politico reported that his race against Democrat Rob Quist is “closer than it should be” in this GOP stronghold. The special election is tomorrow.

By the way, I did not see Acuna file any report tonight on Fox News. Did I miss it? Do you think that if a Democratic candidate for Congress assaulted a reporter on the eve of an election I'd be able to miss it on Fox?

Meanwhile, listen to the audio of the assault below. But be warned that it is disturbing.

Read more at http://www.newshounds.us/mt_republican_candidate_gianforte_assaults_a_reporter_then_lies_about_it_052417#bh2smPbzt2tDrd0A.99

[Benton]

(05-25-2017, 09:35 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: This thread of tweets sums up my feelings on this: https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/867716102062825472

There's not a whole lot of buzz about the story. If Gianforte had body slammed a pro-Russian capitalist who came into wealth via sweat shops, this would be the lead story. As it is, he just assaulted a guy for asking a question.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

Where is Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee when you need them? Among the bushes?

[BmorePat87]

(05-25-2017, 11:16 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: Among the bushes?

[fredtoast]

He will just be more popular with many conservatives.

[ballsofsteel]

(05-25-2017, 11:16 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: Where is Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee when you need them? Among the bushes?

Is Sarah Huckabee a former model?

[Millhouse]

Bet it didnt beat the all-time slam..

[*michaelsean*]

(05-25-2017, 03:09 PM)fredtoast Wrote: He will just be more popular with many conservatives.

Well seeing as 99% of conservatives never heard  of the guy before he'll certainly be more well known.

[GMDino]

(05-25-2017, 04:50 PM)Millhouse Wrote: Bet it didnt beat the all-time slam..

God I hate Hulk Hogan.

The leg drop was the worst finish move ever.

I once went to a WWF event just to boo and flip him off.  

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(05-25-2017, 04:50 PM)Millhouse Wrote: Bet it didnt beat the all-time slam..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jkghtyxZ6rc

[*michaelsean*]

(05-25-2017, 05:24 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jkghtyxZ6rc

I'll do you one better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqS5U4lSSVg

[*Nately120*]

(05-25-2017, 04:52 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Well seeing as 99% of conservatives never heard  of the guy before he'll certainly be more well known.

Maybe Jesse Venture can earn left-wing approval by putting that blonde chick who wiggles her fingers around and says "Snowflake!" alot in the torture rack.  Hot.

[*bfine32*]

(05-25-2017, 09:35 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: This thread of tweets sums up my feelings on this: https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/867716102062825472

Are folks for real trying to blame this on Trump?

[Yojimbo]

Heard an interview on the radio with a Republican voter in Montana and his response was "Who hasn't been charged with assault a time or two in their life?"