Bush Voter Pulls Gun on Kerry Voter

Brownshirts, anyone? This Bush supporter is taking GOP voter intimidation to a new level.

VERO BEACH, Fla. - An anti-John Kerry (news - web sites) demonstrator was charged with felony aggravated assault with a gun for allegedly pointing a weapon at the head of a Kerry supporter.

More below the cut.

Michael Garone, 52, was released from jail Tuesday on his on recognizance. Garone and others were holding anti-Kerry signs at a street corner Monday in Vero Beach when Trevor Pickering drove up and said "Go Kerry," according to an arrest affidavit. Pickering argued with the anti-Kerry protesters, and then got out of the car and knocked a sign out of the hands of one of the demonstrators. "That's when (Garone) walked up to my car and stuck a gun to my head," Pickering said. "I said 'I'm sorry' and 'Please don't kill me,' drove away and called the cops." Garone denied pointing the gun at anyone. Vero Beach is about 65 miles north of West Palm Beach.

True, this is an "alleged" assault; he hasn't been proven guilty. And the Kerry supporter was stupid to antagonize and wrong to initiate a confrontation by knocking the sign out of the guy's hands. Still, if the story's true, it's not entirely surprising. Those concerned with the increase in proto-fascism (-I know, I know, some here think we're already living in a fascist state-) have already flagged a number of worrisome trends. David Neiwert, for example notes:

"A real fascist would speak explicitly of rounding up liberals and sending them off to concentration camps. Pseudo-fascists don't; they offer instead a pale imitation that only hints at such action. And then they claim it's just a joke."

"The real problem with this is that a lot of other movement conservatives say the same sort of thing -- and no one thinks for a moment they're joking."

Felony aggravated assault is no joke. Not by any measure.

If this story is credible (and it was sufficiently credible to arrest and charge the suspect), then the Kerry campaign needs to demand that the White House readily condemn such actions. And we need to push this story hard for at least two reasons. First, violence at the polls is a great way to discourage voter turn-out, and we know who that benefits. Second, the press has been reluctant to call the GOP voter intimidation tactics for what they are. This incident can be the poster-child for our attempts to draw attention to the GOP's intolerant and anti-democratic efforts.

Lastly, while I think some Republicans would approve of the assault described above, I'm confident there are many others who would find it despicable. Given the polarized state of the electorate, hopefully this is one issue on which we can find some common ground. I hope. Update [2004-10-28 1:28:54 by machopicasso]:: As noted in one of the comments below, it's alleged that the Bush supporter prevented the Kerry supporter from leaving, at which point the Kerry supporter got out and confronted the guy who was armed (presumably unbeknownst to the Kerry supporter). I'm sure there are other relevant details to this story that didn't make the AP story linked above.