Posted on 02/27/2007 5:50:34 AM PST by PJ-Comix
It was the punch heard 'round the blogosphere.
On Feb. 17, a Fredericksburg man with fervent anti-war feelings sought out, confronted, and is accused of assaulting a "College Republican" at the University of Mary Washington for supporting the war in Iraq.
The tale of pacifist passion boiling over provided juice for political Web sites on both the right and the left. One conservative blogger cited it as an example of how hatred of President Bush is driving liberals to extremes.
Interviews with the participants indicate the dispute isn't that clear-cut.
The man accused in the attack refuses to call himself a Democrat but acknowledges that his actions were "dumb."
The "pro-war Republican" who was attacked says he isn't an active member of the campus political group and no longer strongly supports the war. One of his roommates, whowas the first to be punched, describes himself as a liberal Democrat.
Their stories offer a cautionary tale about the danger of putting too much personal information on the Internet, about the corrosive nature of debate in the blogosphere, and about what can happen when people jump to conclusions as quickly as they click from one Web site to another.
A plan to confront
Andrew Jefferson Stone, a 23-year-old Mary Washington alumnus, didn't know Reed Pannell, a UMW junior from Sterling.
Stone said he found Pannell's name and address by doing a Facebook search for College Republicans in Fredericksburg. Stone made a list, then started going door to door with Army recruiting materials.
His plan was to ask those on the list if they support the war--and if so, why they weren't fighting in it.
Pannell, 20, said he listed "College Republicans" as one of his activities on his Facebook profile, even though he said he doesn't even attend the UMW group's meetings.
He said he wasn't concerned at the time about openly providing his home address on the profile. "All I was worried about was people showing up unannounced to party," he said.
After finding Pannell's name and address, Stone said he went to the house on Marye Street. A roommate answered the door, and Stone asked to see Pannell, who had just gotten out of the shower.
"I threw a pair of jeans on and came down with shaving cream on my face," he said.
He said Stone asked: "You're a Republican, right? You probably support the war, right?"
Pannell said he responded: "I did initially," then added that he has some issues with the execution of the war.
He said Stone then told him he had come to see if he wanted to join the Army.
Trying to end the discussion, Pannell said he told Stone his father had paid a lot of money for him to go to college and "I really have to finish."
When Stone continued to question Pannell, roommates Matthew Long and Matthew Kastrinsky told Stone to leave.
Stone refused, and Long said he tried to push the visitor out the door. The three roommates said Stone then punched Long.
The housemates said a three-minute scuffle ensued with Pannell also being punched before they succeeded in getting Stone out the door. They called the police, and Stone waited for authorities to arrive and arrest him on misdemeanor assault and battery charges.
Pannell called it "pretty scary" that Stone was able to find him through personal information on the Internet. He said he almost immediately turned on the "private" function on his Facebook page to hide his personal information.
political fodder
Long, a 20-year-old from Alexandria who described himself as a liberal Democrat, said he was just trying to protect his roommate and didn't care about the political argument.
Kastrinsky, a 21-year-old UMW sophomore from Nashville, Tenn., described himself as politically apathetic and "not pro-war at all."
Stone, an honors graduate in English last year, declined to call himself a liberal Democrat. "I'd rather not hurt the label of any political persuasion that my opinions may relate to by identifying too closely with it," he said.
He said he didn't start the fight, but declined to comment about the specifics. He faces a court date this week.
Stone said he went to the house simply to make a point about the war. He said he regrets doing that and asked a reporter "not to make me look any dumber than my actions did."
In online political discussions before the incident, Stone had called Republicans "cowards" who were "going to hang" for the war. In one posting, he used a racial slur to refer to Israelis.
"It was uncalled for, and I apologize to everyone who was offended," he said of the slur. "Hopefully, if Mel Gibson can go on to make a blockbuster, my career will be unaffected as well."
Stone hopes to go into filmmaking. He said he occasionally works for the Capitol Police in Richmond, getting arrested in training drills. He praised Fredericksburg police for their professionalism in arresting him.
After the incident, Pannell contacted conservative columnist Michelle Malkin. She's written a book, "Unhinged: Liberals Gone Wild," contending that hatred of President Bush is driving the left to extremes.
Malkin played the case up on her blog, writing, "It's a jungle out there among the 'peace activists' gone wild. Be careful."
In an interview with The Free Lance-Star, she said she has heard of similar incidents. Malkin said they began with anger over Bush's controversial victory in 2000 and have been "exacerbated" by the war.
She called Stone and others like him "terrorists."
Some left-wing blogs have disowned Stone, but others seem less than appalled by what he did.
Mark Rozell, a political scientist at George Mason University, speculated that Stone "needs help," but said heated confrontations over the war are not unusual.
"We're in an era when people's feelings on a lot of these matters are running very, very deep--and, regrettably, too many people today are personalizing their differences," he said.
Rozell attributes much of that to "really coarse debate in the media."
"That gives the public an idea we live in a world that's black and white, far left and far right, with no room to meet in the middle.
"It's all about vanquishing your enemy," Rozell said. "And it's become really ugly."
Those involved in the incident have different views of how this is playing out in the blogosphere.
Kastrinsky said he's "perturbed," and feels everyone involved is being used.
Pannell said he has no problem with the take of right-wing bloggers, adding, "It really was terrifying."
Stone said that if Malkin "was heading up Homeland Security, I guess I'd be getting water-boarded right now."
"If this is their top story," he said of conservative bloggers, "it's pretty clear that their public influence is waning."
This is too FUnnie!!! The Free Lance-Star made itself a laughingstock when the original reporter about this incident claimed he couldn't figure out the political persuasion of leftwing loonie, Andrew Stone. So now this article comes out pathetically attempting to justify that cluelessness. How? By quoting Stone's self-serving claim that he doesn't want to hurt the left by saying he is one of them. BTW, this reporter should realize that the Leftwing loonies rarely call themselves "liberals" since they prefer the term "progressives." Oh, and the other justification for the "lack" of political motive in this story was that one of the roommates was a Democrat. Yeah, and how would the attacker, Stone, know this since that house was targeted as belonging to a Republican? Also Stone started a Facebook group called "Republicans Are Cowards." So can this dopey reporter STILL not figure out what political ideology this leftwing NUtcase is coming from?
By trying to keep from looking like a laughingstock, the Free Lance-Star makes itself MORE of a laughingstock.
Democrats Gone Wild!!!
Haven't you gotten the word from reporter Zitz? We just cannot figure out the political persuasion of Andrew Stone despite dozens of arrows pointing in the direction of "Leftwing Loon."
How is this not a home invasion beef?
You need to get up to speed on the genesis of this story. That home was targeted by Stone because of the Republican affiliation of one of the roommates. Also Stone had a Facebook group called "Republicans Are Cowards." Plus there are NUMEROUS other arrows out there all pointing to the fact that Stone is a BDS leftwing NUtcase.
Sorry but this wasn't just home invasion done at random.
Yes, I get that part but he did invade their home.
I imagine a typical story in this same newspaper might go like this: "Although there was a bright warm object in the sky from dawn to dusk, it was impossible to determine whether it was the sun or not."
He's lucky the 'Pubbie didn't have a .357 in his waistband.
Best regards,
Click the Fredrericksburg link. I just added a readers comment to that article.
But...but didn't you read the story by reporter Zitz? According to him it is IMPOSSIBLE to tell what political ideology Andrew Stone is coming from. Why he might even be a conservative Republican. Despite DOZENS of arrows pointing in the direction of "Leftwing Loon," Zitz still can't figure out (actually I think Zitz knows but won't admit) where Stone is coming from.
Impersonating an Army Recruiter should be one of the charges.
Zitz pretends not to know the political persuasion of Andrew Stone. But he KNOWS. He is just too EMBARRASSED to have to admit it.
Why doesn't the newspaper try a little journalism? You know, find out what's actually going on. So it's readers can be informed.
Sounds like a hate crime.
It's a freakin' hate crime. Boil the bastards in their own oil!
Actually reading the Facebook postings by Andrew Stone would be a good start. Michelle Malkin posted Stone's rantings from that site and there is NO DOUBT where Stone is coming from. Maybe Zitz is too busy to actually DO some reporting as Michelle has done.
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