Steven Crowder Punched: Man Claims Fox News Contributor Goaded Other Union Protesters
by Dave Jamieson
12/12/2012
A Lansing man who joined the protests Tuesday against Michigan's controversial right-to-work legislation claims that Steven Crowder, the Fox News contributor who was punched by a protester, had provoked and insulted pro-union activists prior to the high-profile scuffle.
Ken Spitzley, a state agriculture department employee, told HuffPost that he walked to the protest at the state Capitol during a break from work and that he witnessed Crowder getting in protesters' faces and goading them.
"He was just after everybody," said the 56-year-old Spitzley, a procurement technician whose workplace is represented by the United Auto Workers. "There was no question he was there just to start a fight, to start some kind of trouble."
According to Spitzley, Crowder had an exchange with two pro-union men wearing blue jeans, hard hats and Carhartt clothing. One of them asked Crowder what he did for a living, according to Spitzley.
"He said, 'I sell soap. I should sell you some,'" Spitzley said, quoting Crowder.
Spitzley said he did not witness the punching incident or the exchange leading up to it. But in Spitzley's estimation, Crowder "wasn't going to go home until he got punched."
Crowder, who suffered a chipped tooth in the incident, did not respond to a request for his reaction to Spitzley's story. In an appearance on Sean Hannity's Fox News show Tuesday night, Crowder described the punches as "completely physically unprovoked."
"Apparently, I provoked them by asking them, why are they against right to work? By asking them, what about somebody in Michigan who might want to work for a company and might not want to join a union?"
"Call me a provocateur, Sean," Crowder added.
An edited video that Crowder posted of the scuffle shows a man punching Crowder repeatedly and another man grabbing him from behind after he'd walked away. The video, which due to the editing does not show what immediately preceded the punches, has become perhaps the most prevalent image of the Lansing protest, with conservatives holding it up as evidence of union thuggery...
For the full article go to:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/12/steven-crowder-punched_n_2287169.html
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