No on 8 Protestor Assaulted by School Board Member in Bakersfield (San Francisco: school district, gated)

[tangodoodles]

Since I moved to San Francisco in August, I've only been checking in on the news in Bakersfield sporadically. So I was shocked but not really surprised when my dad told me today that yesterday some serious shizz went down at a No on 8 vs. Yes on 8 protest. I need to give you guys a little background info for this to make sense so bear with me.

Okay, this all takes place in Bakersfield, an extremely conservative city in the Central Valley. On the one hand you have Ken Mettler, chairman of the Bakersfield Yes on 8 campaign and Kern County High School Board member (an elected official). His focus is on "the safety of our children." Yeah... Okay, so then you have the No on 8 people, many of them are younger although there are some older people joining the cause as well. This all takes place at the corner of California and Stockdale, a major intersection that many people travel through on their way to and from work and school everyday. The No on 8 people stand on one side of the street and the Yes on 8 people stand on the other side of the street and this has been going on for awhile now. Okay, so now for the incident.

The No on 8 people bought some Yes on 8 signs but then changed them to read No on 8 while still looking identical to the Yes on 8 signs. According to several eyewitness accounts, as well as video documentation, Ken Mettler saw the signs and went across the street to claim them. As he was gathering them up, people were yelling at him that he was stealing signs that they bought. When one person confronted him, he proceeded to kick that person and punch him in the jaw. All of this was caught on tape and the person who was assaulted by Mettler turned out to be a 21 year old kid. As the video shows, Ken Mettler was responsible for what happened although he later claimed that he acted in "self-defense." The incident just happened but it's being investigated and I'm hoping he'll be thrown off the school board at the least. Our local D.A. is harsh on everyone else and I'm hoping he'll be just as harsh on Ken. He was one of the main board members trying to get the Kern County High School District to publicly endorse a Yes on 8 stance to "protect children" and then he hauls off and punches some kid in the face. What a hypocrite. Anyway, read the story here and watch the video, I believe it speaks for itself. Scroll down a bit for the video.

Mettler scuffle with protester caught on video - Latest news | Bakersfield.com - Kern County news, events, shopping & search (http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/589951.html - broken link)

[Roaddog]

i couldn't tell what happened from the video, looks like a lot of punk type kids around and there is always going to be trouble in that situation.

[giants55]

Heteros against 8!

[tangodoodles]

Originally Posted by Roaddog

i couldn't tell what happened from the video, looks like a lot of punk type kids around and there is always going to be trouble in that situation.

I think it was a bad idea from Mettler to venture into the crowd. Seriously, this issue is already so divisive, he should have left the signs alone. Or at the very least if he was going to go over there he should not have reacted at all physically. I don't believe he was fighting in self-defense though. I bet no one would have believed it if they hadn't caught it on tape. But he's clearly a right-wing freak anyway, aside from this incident. I mean, really, trying to force the school board to take a Yes on Prop 8 stance? What happened to the separation of church and state? He and Chad Vegas need to go.

[Roaddog]

I just can't tell what happened before the punch so I'll stay neutral and let the BPD and the DA to determine, it would be best to avoid such things, violence will not solve the problem, better to let it go or allow the police to handle it. the bad things about these protests is that it brings out trouble makers who are not there for their beliefs but just to start trouble.

[tangodoodles]

Originally Posted by Roaddog

I just can't tell what happened before the punch so I'll stay neutral and let the BPD and the DA to determine, it would be best to avoid such things, violence will not solve the problem, better to let it go or allow the police to handle it. the bad things about these protests is that it brings out trouble makers who are not there for their beliefs but just to start trouble.

I guess. I mean, it's pretty clear that they were provoking him verbally and I probably would have too if he were stealing my signs. Just because the signs say Yes on 8 doesn't mean they belong to him. They were either bought or abandoned, that part of the story seems unclear at this point. I'm just hoping that the BPD and DA are fair in their assessment. I know Ed Jagels loves the Republican Party and is a hardcore conservative but I expect him to treat Ken Mettler's case the same as he'd treat anybody else charged with a crime. In other words, harshly. And like the BPD in the video says, by all accounts the protests were peaceful until Mettler walked over to the No on 8 side. I think both sides were looking to provoke a reaction and I think regardless of the legal outcome, Mettler should at least be held accountable by the school board. The way he acted was unbecoming of an elected official, especially an official elected to protect children.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by tangodoodles

Since I moved to San Francisco in August, I've only been checking in on the news in Bakersfield sporadically. So I was shocked but not really surprised when my dad told me today that yesterday some serious shizz went down at a No on 8 vs. Yes on 8 protest. I need to give you guys a little background info for this to make sense so bear with me.

Okay, this all takes place in Bakersfield, an extremely conservative city in the Central Valley. On the one hand you have Ken Mettler, chairman of the Bakersfield Yes on 8 campaign and Kern County High School Board member (an elected official). His focus is on "the safety of our children." Yeah... Okay, so then you have the No on 8 people, many of them are younger although there are some older people joining the cause as well. This all takes place at the corner of California and Stockdale, a major intersection that many people travel through on their way to and from work and school everyday. The No on 8 people stand on one side of the street and the Yes on 8 people stand on the other side of the street and this has been going on for awhile now. Okay, so now for the incident.

The No on 8 people bought some Yes on 8 signs but then changed them to read No on 8 while still looking identical to the Yes on 8 signs. According to several eyewitness accounts, as well as video documentation, Ken Mettler saw the signs and went across the street to claim them. As he was gathering them up, people were yelling at him that he was stealing signs that they bought. When one person confronted him, he proceeded to kick that person and punch him in the jaw. All of this was caught on tape and the person who was assaulted by Mettler turned out to be a 21 year old kid. As the video shows, Ken Mettler was responsible for what happened although he later claimed that he acted in "self-defense." The incident just happened but it's being investigated and I'm hoping he'll be thrown off the school board at the least. Our local D.A. is harsh on everyone else and I'm hoping he'll be just as harsh on Ken. He was one of the main board members trying to get the Kern County High School District to publicly endorse a Yes on 8 stance to "protect children" and then he hauls off and punches some kid in the face. What a hypocrite. Anyway, read the story here and watch the video, I believe it speaks for itself. Scroll down a bit for the video.

Mettler scuffle with protester caught on video - Latest news | Bakersfield.com - Kern County news, events, shopping & search (http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/589951.html - broken link)

thanks for sharing. that is just so typical of the Yes on 8 crowd. they would be marching for adolf hitler if he was alive today.

[tangodoodles]

Originally Posted by wehotex

thanks for sharing. that is just so typical of the Yes on 8 crowd. they would be marching for adolf hitler if he was alive today.

I just want people to stop treating them like they're martyrs or victims because they're not, many of them are thugs. And on some level I agree with your comment. To say that anyone should have less rights (i.e. Jews, minorities, gay people) is so wrong. People don't see the correlation between denying these rights to gay people and denying interracial marriage rights. Someday I'm hoping my children like back and are astounded by the fact that at one point gay people weren't allowed to get married the same way I look back and am astounded that at one point a black man couldn't marry a white woman.

[happ]

Bakersfield is ground zero for the GOP in California. The fact that a radical like Mettler is a school board member is a poor reflection on California. Born in Fresno, I know Republican strength but was surprised by a Fresno poster pointing out that Fresno county is how 50/50% w/ Democrats & expected to become another 'Blue' Central Valley county

There is an interview in today's LA Times of a Fresno priest who spoke against Prop 8 & is on disciplinary suspension. The priest said he could not support a measure that is contrary to Christian values.

Looks like tempers are high in Central California.

[ecvMatt]

Originally Posted by tangodoodles

I just want people to stop treating them like they're martyrs or victims because they're not, many of them are thugs. And on some level I agree with your comment. To say that anyone should have less rights (i.e. Jews, minorities, gay people) is so wrong. People don't see the correlation between denying these rights to gay people and denying interracial marriage rights. Someday I'm hoping my children like back and are astounded by the fact that at one point gay people weren't allowed to get married the same way I look back and am astounded that at one point a black man couldn't marry a white woman.

The wheels turn slowly and change only comes with time. I'm sure your kids will look back to "the turn of the century" and see many attrocities(sp?) and unjust laws, just as they will see freedoms we have that they will be denied. Regardless of personal feelings about homosexuality, I think the prop never should have made it to the ballot as it violates the 14th amendment. Right now, I think we have so many more important things going on, the energy used, on both sides of prop 8 could be used for something better.(I say this not to belittle anyone who is passionate about the subject, only because I feel it is a non issue, 14th amendment!)