Good video of spitting incident

YouTube

[floriduh voter]

photoshop that woman out and Steny is carrying a purse. It looks like he’s carrying Pelosi’s purse cuz she’s manning the gavel.

[francky]

In my almost 80 years I have only seen citizens so riled once. The Veterans trying to get their bonuses.

[ConjunctionJunction]

Wow! He did give you a mean look!

Good for you!

[divine_moment_of_facts]

He dragged an officer to the scene of the 'spittle' crime, but the senior citizen got away! He was probably wearing his wifes teef!

[spaced]

Thanks for the explanation. I was puzzled by the title and the video. Was this the same guy who claimed someone called him the n-word?

[Jeff Winston]

I must’ve watched the video about 10 times, very closely, and I agree with your assessment.

As far as I can see, I think Mr. Light-Hat-Dark-Shirt was the only person who was both close enough and facing in the right direction to have landed anything on Rep. Cleaver.

And I think he was definitely close enough. He was also yelling quite enthusiastically, which of course is his right in a free country at a public protest such as this one.

Although I can’t hear him specifically, I assume he was yelling “Kill the Bill!” with the crowd. I saw no motion on his part whatsoever (or on anybody else’s part, and I watched this a bunch of times) that looked like he was preparing to deliberately spit. When someone is getting ready to deliberately spit, you can generally tell it. Or you can actually see the spitting motion when they do it. Not so here.

After you get hit with a bit of saliva (unless it’s a great big huge whopping hunk of spit launched forcefully), it’s likely to take a moment for the person who gets hit to react. I note that just before Congressman Cleaver’s reaction the crowd had chanted “Kill the Bill!”

When you’re chanting and yelling enthusiastically over and over again (and trying your best to make your voice heard by a Congress that seems almost entirely deaf to the wishes of the people), there’s not necessarily a lot of difference between a “B” and a “P.” (If you don’t believe me, stand outside and try it for a while.)

I also along with you don’t tend to think Cleaver made up the charge. But I agree with you that he was simply walking too close in the “say it, don’t spray it” zone.

It’s very interesting though that when he returns, he seems to act as if he doesn’t see or recognize Mr. Light-Hat-Dark-Shirt, or as if he thinks the offending party was someone else. Maybe he was too upset to know who to look for, or maybe his conversation with Mr Light-Hat-Dark-Shirt after the incident convinced him that it must’ve been someone else.

Bottom line: I could see no evidence of anyone deliberately spitting on the Congressman. What I saw was a Congressman who simply and unfortunately happened to pass too close in front of an enthusiastically-chanting protestor.

[freespirited]

Great analysis. Thanks for taking the time.

[CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC]

Here's my best guess as to what's really going on in this video:

• The guy was yelling the chant, same as everyone else, and Cleaver walked right by, inches away, and got the full decibels in his ears, plus some accidental spittle during the "B" in "Kill the Bill" (take a drink of water and then yell kill the bill, your hand inches from your mouth; notice what happens at the "B"; examine hand; and don't do this at work).
• Cleaver stopped, turned, and faced the guy, yelling back at him. This delay increases the odds of accidental spittle coming his way.
• The guy was obviously trying to chant as loud as he could. People don't cup both hands around the mouth when they're whispering. Again, maximizes chance of accidental spittle.
• Cleaver couldn't demand the female white cop arrest the guy, since she was a witness and would know that Cleaver was full of it, to demand such a thing.
• Cleaver comes back with the black cop for two reasons: A) His race, B) He wasn't a witness to the truth as the female cop was.
• The chanter never moved from his spot, and it's extremely unlikely that Cleaver, who returned in less than a minute with the black cop, could not ID the guy.
• I'm guessing that the female cop is just off the screen to the left. She was at the tail of the procession, so as long as Cleaver was delaying the moment when the procession was completed, she probably stuck around waiting for him, since that was her assigned position at the tail end.
• If I'm guessing right, then she was in a position to see it, if Cleaver should point out the alleged spitter to the black cop and demand an arrest, and Cleaver would have to know there's a chance she'd speak up and prove him a liar. If so, then the reason he's delaying and delaying and delaying, pretending to look all around for the "perp" - a guy who's right under his nose and is someone he just was yelling at for a significant amount of time just one minute before - is because he's actually watching for the female cop to turn her back and move on so that he can make his false accusation without contradiction.

Any other takes on this?

[CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC]

No he didn't "get away". The guy with the white hat, dark shirt, white square on shirt pocket, reddish something below, .... never moved the whole time. I think Cleaver pretended to look for him, knowing full well the guy is right in front of him, probably because the white female cop who witnessed it was close by and would contradict him if he demanded the black cop make an arrest.

Or another possibility that occurs to me ... he pretended not to see the alleged spitter, because if he and the cop confronted the guy, and the guy told his side of the story and turned to ask for corroboration from others standing around him (protesters, female cop), the whole incident would have been documented in the black cop's report as a misunderstanding of Cleavers.

By pretending to be unable to find the "perp," he can make up any story he wants about the guy and who's to know? (Except for that damned videographer filming the whole incident! Ha!)

[divine_moment_of_facts]

Good point.