Posted on 12/02/2016 9:54:59 PM PST by Impala64ssa
An argument over the recent presidential election in the lobby of a Donora high-rise apartment complex ended with a resident of the building hitting a 69-year-old woman over the head with a chair, police said.
Matthew Pugh, 27, of Donora Towers, 685 Meldon Ave., was arrested Wednesday on a warrant obtained by Donora police on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment.
Borough police were called to the apartment complex Nov. 20. Witnesses told police that Pugh and the woman, also a Donora Towers resident, were in the lobby when they got into a disagreement about politics, particularly the recent presidential election.
Pugh reportedly became enraged. He allegedly picked up a chair and hit the woman over the head, knocking her to the floor. The chair opened a gash on her head that bled severely, police said. The woman also suffered other injuries in the fall.
Pugh left after the assault, police said, but was found a short time later. Donora police Officer Keith Charlton said Pugh is a supporter of Hillary Clinton, who lost to Donald Trump in the presidential vote. The woman apparently made a comment either against Clinton or in support of Trump, sparking Pugh’s attack, said Charlton.
The woman was taken to Monongahela Valley Hospital for treatment of her injuries. Police said Pugh was taken to the same hospital for an evaluation.
Pugh was arraigned before District Judge Larry Hopkins and placed in Washington County jail on $50,000 bond. He is scheduled for a Dec. 14 preliminary hearing before District Judge Mark Wilson.
I’m surprised that they did not hit him with an “elder abuse” offense. Those laws can have very stiff penalties.
That may be true, or it may not, but that's irrelevant. You're speaking as a Monday morning quarterback. What the police officer says is:
"The woman apparently made a comment either against Clinton or in support of Trump, sparking Pugh’s attack," said Charlton.
The proverb in play is:
"Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife" (Prov. 30:33)
When is the last time you twisted a dog's nose? You don't stick your hand in a meat grinder. According to the investigator, it appears that the woman might have been just as much to blame. Maybe she's not very intelligent, either. Did she have prior knowledge of the Downer type that this might result?
No, then it would be murder.
I doubt that any police force anywhere would justify murder for words spoken. Self defense is totally different (Zimmerman case).
I do understand what you're saying about holding one's tongue as a form of self-control and discretion, but no one in a civilized land should have to worry about deadly assault for expressing a political opinion.
Only by standing up to such violence and continuing to express oneself politically, despite the threats, do we keep our right to do so. To meekly cower in the corner means we've voluntarily given up that right.
You’re confusing causes with consequences.
No, not confusing anything, FRiend, I just disagree with you.
No, you are also confusing “what should be” with “what is,” and that can be a great mistake in your physical and mental welfare. This is where your disagreement is. I do not disagree with you at all in this case on “what should be.” But in my life I am going to deal with “what is,” and perhaps by doing so the victim could have avoided being one.
A most astute point ... I expect many more such examples to come -- hopefully at high levels within the dying socialist Democrat Party.
The guy’s mug shot makes him look smug, like he was justified in what he did.
I won’t say what I’d like to see done to him. It’d get me banned.
He's a Pittsburgher. (Ducks)
Yes. Just so.
I agree with you. If she had not been there, it would not have happened. She was lucky that she did not get charged with damaging the chair with her head.
But none the less the sob can thank the Good Lord that it was not my mother he hit. He would not be in jail[ if he is] now if it had been.
But then again, what do I know, some people love and admire bastards such as this. I am just not one of them. And he is still walking around, so I guess her kinfolk don’t mind, either.
To balance off the kind of people who freak out without using their heads.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.