Student Alleges Police Brutality at Ann Coulter Lecture

New Jersey student Mike Tracy says he was the victim of excessive force when he tried to ask conservative author Ann Coulter a question at a campus event last week. According to the Salem News, all Tracy was doing was trying to was peacefully get an answer to a query she had sidestepped during the lecture, when he was mauled!

"Since you said Democrats are sympathetic to terrorists because the president has Hussein as a middle name, are you saying that all people with Muslim sounding names are sympathetic to terrorists?" Mike Tracey asked.

Ann Coulter replied, "You can't possibly be that stupid."

She then avoided his question, and went on to finish the session.

Once she began to do book signings, Tracey went to ask her the question again, but was stopped by an officer.

Not to be deterred from getting an answer, Tracey avoided the officer and went to Mrs. Coulter's table, where she "jumped back in shock."

"Evidently, Mrs. Coulter expected something serious," Tracey wrote in his blog.

Tracey began to ask the question again, but he says, three words later, he found himself on the ground.

Sounds pretty outrageous, huh? Who does Coultergeist think she is, anyway, not answering his question?

Not so fast, though. This news account differs significantly from Tracy's own account. If what he says is true, he was dead wrong, Coulter was 100% right, and the police were right at first, then wrong later.

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I have to first say that, while I'm definitely a liberal, I'm not one of the onmes who thought this was funny:



I also am not amused with jokes about her gender or appearance, or with jokes about her jaw injury, and I don't think "Coultergeist" is at all clever.

I probably don't agree with a single word Ann says, but right is right, and wrong is wrong. She's a human being, with the right to feel free and safe, just like me.

Let's look at Mike's account, abridged for space, with my comments in bold:

After chatting with some people in the audience for a few minutes, I got in line to speak to Coulter. I was planning on introducing myself and following up to my question that I'd asked earlier; I did not find her response to be satisfactory. When it was my turn in line, I walked onto the stage, and toward Coulter. I was immediately cut off by two security officials, one a police officer, one in plainclothes. They said that I could not come up to her table if I did not have a book. I said I just wanted to ask a question, and approached the table. At no point did I make physical contact with anyone on stage. I simply "side-stepped" the individuals that obstructed me.

Wrongness #1. The organizers of the event, and Coulter, have every right to control, and set rules for, access to her. You can't simply "side-step" this. Why didn't you just buy a frakkin' book, dickbag?

Coulter, apparently startled by the commotion caused by the two officials, jumped backwards in her chair, as if she thought I was on the verge of attack. I suppose Coulter is used to that kind of threat, but it was certainly not my intention whatsoever. I did not lunge at her, nor yell anything at her; I only calmly walked up to her table. But, as it happened, I did not utter more than three words of my question before I was forcibly escorted to the end of the stage, led down the stairs, told "you're outta here", and again pushed in the direction of the building's exit without so much as a pause or an explanation.

Again, try that shit at an Obama event, and see what happens. You don't have to lunge or yell to be a threat, you just need to be where you're not supposed to be. This is where the Salem News says he was thrown down, but this account says different.

Not allowing myself to be physically removed without even being able to comment on what was going on, I then began to walk in the opposite direction, back toward the center of the auditorium where I had been sitting and mingling with people after the lecture. The officer suddenly started to pull my coat and grab at my shoulders. Instinctively, I didn't simply allow him to do this, and kept moving forward. I did not resist, nor did I shove or strike the officer in any way. I simply started walking in a different direction.

Um, that's resisting. Whether the officer had a right to restrain you is another matter.

He goes on to describe what sounds like excessive force and unacceptable behavior by the police, the first time in his account, assuming it's true, that he isn't completely wrong. His description of the cops' conduct is consistent and credible, as is his description of his own actions.

On the other hand, the fact that he was being an asshole, and some asshole cops gave him a boo-boo, does not a federal case make. I've witnessed actual brutality on really innocent people, and weak claims like this dilute sympathy for real victims of police brutality.

As far as Ann Coulter goes, liberals are trained to hate her, and I'm sure Mike thought he had a "Check mate!" question for her. What they all fail to realize is that Ann is hustling them, and the Republicans, for zillions of dollars. She's not here to debate you, she's here to get your attention and your money.

Every time we write about Ann Coulter here, we get a kajillion hits. Why would I want to mess that up?

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