Update: Violence erupts after Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) town hall on health care, six arrests made

August 7, 2:15 AMPolitical Buzz ExaminerRyan Witt

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Russ Carnahan town hall turned rowdy at the end.  AP Photo Hidajet Delic

It appears I made the mistake of leaving a town hall once the Representative departed.  After Russ Carnahan left from a town hall which became centered on health care reform violence erupted outside the middle school where the town hall was held.

Before any violence occurred the situation outside the town hall was already tense.  Health care reform opponents felt cheated after being locked out of the town hall (video below illustrates this scene).  Some believed that SEIU (Service Employees International Union) members were being let in instead of them.  While I cannot attest as to other SEIU members I know that the two men in the video actually did not get into the town hall and instead were outside with rest of the protesters when the town hall started.  No one has yet provided confirmed reports as to whether SEIU was overly represented at the town hall.  From my personal observation the Carnahan office was allowing people who had RSVP'd beforehand to go in ahead of others.  This greatly upset many of the health care protesters behind me.  My full account of the protests before any violence broke out can be read here. 

According to St. Louis Post Dispatch after the town hall was over six people were arrested outside.  These arrests included two people for suspicion of assault, three on suspicion of committing disturbance of the peace, and one for resisting arrest.  One victim of the violence appears to be Kenneth C. Gladney who was a protester handing out flags with the slogan "Don't tread on me" printed on them.  The "Don't tread on me" yellow flags are commonly referred to as Gadsden flags and can be traced back to the American Revolution.  Most recently, the flags have been prominently used by Tea Party protesters in 2009.

A friend of Gladney who claims to have seen the entire event has posted his account of the altercation in the comment section of my previous post.  The identity of this friend has not yet been confirmed and it is important to note that all these claims are just allegations at this point and not proven fact.  Having said that, here is the story according to David C. Brown, friend of Gladney:

I was at the event. My name is David Brown. I am an atty in St. Louis. My friend, Kenneth Gladney, who is black, was passing out Don't Tread on Me Flags and Tea Party buttons at the end of the event to Tea Party supporters and conservatives. He was then called a racial slur by two SEIU members. He was then attacked by two black males (SEIU reps) and white male, another SEIU rep., and a white woman. The punched him in the face and he fell to the ground. He was then kicked and punched by all four. One fled on foot, and three were arrested. Kenneth was taken to St. John's Mercy Hospital to the emergency room. He has suffered numerous injuries. For more information, please contact me at PHONE NUMBER EDITED OUT. Thank you.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch has confirmed that Gladney is being treated for injuries at a local hospital.  At this point SEIU has not released any statement related to the event that I can find.  I will update this piece with any version of events from SEIU as any information becomes available.

Regardless, the whole episode is a sad statement as to the state of politics today.  As I had left the rally things had actually calmed down and a number of pro-reform and anti-reform protesters were having somewhat civil conversations.  Something caused things to turn violent and whatever that something is, be it liberal or conservative, should be condemned.  All sides would be best left to use words rather than physical actions to prove their point.