BREAKING NEWS: The Columbus Dispatch Identifies Health Care Protester (hurled insults and dollars)

[babsbunny]

https://www.ohiodems.org/stoptheattacks


At a health care reform protest outside Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy’s office last week, a man hurled insults and dollar bills at a Columbus area senior challenged by Parkinson’s disease. For days, we’ve been wondering who could be so insulting and so callous to a fellow Ohioan. Well, today, we found out. The Columbus Dispatch identified the man as Columbus resident and registered Republican Chris Reichert.

[Sara Bradi]

1. thank you for the post, here is the Columbus dispatch link...

Health-reform rally heckler says he's sorry and scared

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 12:19 PM
By Catherine Candisky
Columbus Dispatch

The man who berated and tossed dollar bills at a man with Parkinson's disease during a health care protest last week says he is remorseful and scared.

"I snapped. I absolutely snapped and I can't explain it any other way," said Chris Reichert of Victorian Village, in a Dispatch interview.

In his first comments on an incident that went viral across the Internet and was repeatedly played on cable television news shows, Reichert said he is sorry about his confrontation with Robert A. Letcher, 60, of the North Side. Letcher, a former nuclear engineer who suffers from Parkinson's, was verbally attacked as he sat before anti-health care demonstrators in front of Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy's district office last week.

"He's got every right to do what he did and some may say I did too, but what I did was shameful," Reichert said. "I haven't slept since that day."

"I made a donation (to a local Parkinson's disease group) and that starts the healing process."

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/03/24/dollar-bill-throw.html

"I wanted this to go away, but it won't and I'm paying the consequences," Reichert said.

He said he's fearful for his family after reading comments about his actions on the Internet.

"I've been looking at the web sites," he said. "People are hunting for me."

He regrets what he did because it was caught on tape and people are hunting for him, he feels all should be well now because he wrote a check to a local Parkinson's disease group.

I think he will learn his lessons if his employer hurls a couple of pink slips in his face and his family loses their health insurance...

[screwfacecapone]

2. He's only sorry

because he got caught.

[MisterKeitel]

3. Because He Got Caught

I agree. The guy might be a life long bully. My experience with bullies is that when they are confronted about their bad behavior, they will have a slew of ready-made statements meant as their Get Out Of Jail Free Card. Some guy that bullies his co-workers at the job when confronted will say "Oh...But they miss-understand me. What I did was means as a joke. It's not my fault they don't have a sense of humor. Or that they are so socially inept that they don't understand a joke." Or they can say how they were having a bad day or that they "snapped" or that they are so very, very sorry. A bully is usually very adept at portraying themselves as victims, as this guy was.

Now, I'll admit that I've been to many protests over the years. And, there is this dark, id-like power that arises when a mob of people get together. If you're part of a group and that group turns ugly, you'll feel this pull to loose all control yourself. It takes a strong person to resist that kind of pull.