10/27/2008
School Official Assaults 'No on Prop 8' Protestor in Bakersfield
Kern High School District Trustee Ken Mettler was caught on video assaulting a "No on Prop 8" protestor on Friday night in Bakersfield, California. Mettler was reportedly snatching signs from the "No on 8" people before the assault occurred.
Neither Mettler nor the man he punched and kicked was arrested or charged.
Bakersfield now reports: "The video shows Mettler taking signs which originally read "Yes on 8" but were altered to read 'No on 8'. Mettler is jeered by the crowd as he collects the signs. Mettler than starts walking toward a man, and the video shows Mettler grabbing a sign and then appearing to strike and kick 21-year-old Robert Badewitz. 'He hit me on the left jaw with his fist and then he kicked me as well,' said Badewitz. Mettler then walks away after the incident. Bakersfield Police say an assault did take place, but would not say if Mettler was the one who committed the assault. Police questioned Mettler but no arrests were made. Police say accusations were made signs were being stolen. Ken Mettler is also the Kern County chairman for Yes on Proposition 8, and president of the Bakersfield Chapter of the California Republican Assembly."
Mettler claims the punch was in self-defense, though there is no evidence on the video. Says Mettler: "I was assaulted. A fellow threw a punch at me. He missed. And I did hit him."
Watch video of the assault, AFTER THE JUMP...
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Posted 9:45 AM EST by Andy Towle in California, Gay Marriage, News | Permalink
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i find all this behavior rather childish... changing signs and pulling them down.. isn't this tantamount to vandalism? besides anybody who thinks you're going to change anyone's mind with a sign is delusional at best... i imagine people have their mind pretty much made up one way or another about the gay marriage issue...
Posted by: the queen | Oct 27, 2008 11:01:45 AM
Whatever happened to the TV ads that Ellen was supposedly paying to run?
The vote is 8 days away and I haven't seen a single one except on the Net?
Posted by: Alan | Oct 27, 2008 11:26:18 AM
Mettler, Ken & D Barbara
15229 Henderson Ave
Bakersfield, CA 93314
661-589-9386
Posted by: me | Oct 27, 2008 11:55:32 AM
If the right-wing wacko bigot "Yes on 8" signs are on PUBLIC PROPERTY, then you have it in your own rights to clean up the trash. Public sidewalks, Public Parks, Public right-of-ways, and Public Land belong to YOU and the right-wing wackos have NO right to inflict the people with their trash.
Remove them and dump them in the nearest recycle bin.
And Mettler? You should go to jail and I hope your Boyfriend on the inside treats you like the little B!!ch that you are.
Posted by: mike | Oct 27, 2008 12:49:50 PM
Next time that guy runs for office, the assault video should be played, because that behavior should not be tolerated for a public official.
Also he's a leading member of a Republican club too. Embarrassing.
Also the guy he beat up failed to press charges against him, shameful.
Posted by: Matt from California | Oct 27, 2008 1:03:50 PM
Mike, I wish he'd go to jail, however, I don't wish for him to get raped while he's in there. Rape is not an appropriate punishment for anything.
Posted by: Andy | Oct 27, 2008 2:59:39 PM
The whole story is a subterfuge as much as the Ashely Todd story. We are down to the final days before an election day that I believe will go down in history as a tremendous event. We can't alter the path of change. It is cyclical and natural for us to progress. It is not natural to remain stagnant or regress to keep things simple. Complicated is unnecessary yet complexity is understandable. The progression of liberty is something that people, especially oppressed ones, are willing to fight for. This is the basis, and the foundation, of our democracy. Unfortunately, the adversity brought about by fear, ignorance, and the painfully uneducated pose antiquated threats like stones cast from simpletons' hands. We have the ability to correct the maladjusted groups of sick offense that leave a trail of disdained youth with each generation produced, not looking up to their elders, but with their heads down and shaking and wondering why the obvious is not as clear to such seniors boasting wisdom. Liberty is liberty. It is not just a trademark we put on America's slogan. It is a promise, not a guarantee, in this country. We deny ourselves and divide us into a heirarchy when we subjectively allow freedoms to only choice groups. We then become a hypocrisy and a conundrum wrapped in a contradiction. One of our patriarchs, Thomas Jefferson, even stated that we a revision of the federal constitution is necessary from generation to generation to the end of time, if anything human can so long endure. But far be it from me to criticize the privileges afforded the coastal folks. These are just the ramblings of a self-educated, midwestern, young man. We have no clue what really goes on in the world past the heartland so seemingly thought of by the citizens born into an abundance of culture on our nation's coasts. "A greater facility of ammendment is certainly requisite to maintain it (the constitution) in a course of action accommodated to the times and changes through which we are ever passing." --Thomas Jefferson to A. Coray, 1823.
Posted by: A Kennedy In The 2000's | Oct 27, 2008 6:25:37 PM
YOU should Never, Ever post anyones home address and phone numbers, That is just wrong regardless of your Views. NOw you are making us all look bad
Posted by: NOT RIGHT | Oct 28, 2008 5:55:38 PM
Matt williams: How would you like it if someone posted your info on here?
Posted by: Matt | Oct 28, 2008 5:57:32 PM