Rep. Etheridge Assaults Private Citizen

Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.) was recently filmed assaulting a college student who had the audacity to question his voting record.

The video clearly shows Rep. Etheridge forcefully grabbing the student first by the arm and then by his neck and shoulders, effectively demobilizing him for 30 seconds while demanding the student to divulge his identity. Another video captured from the student's perspective is available here.

Rep. Etheridge clearly committed a battery against the student because being confronted with non-violent questioning on a public sidewalk does not grant him the privilege of forcefully detaining the questioner.

It would be an open-and-shut case even if Etheridge were a private citizen, but his status as a Congressman is even more appalling. Is Bob Etheridge really so arrogant that he believes his actions are immune to his constituents' scrutiny? Why, for that matter, does he believe he has the right to use physical force to intimidate his critics? The government is answerable to the governed, not the other way around.

Or, does Bob Etheridge believe he belongs to a ruling class?

He apologizes profusely because he got caught, and probably only because he got caught.

We deserve better than this.