Did Fox News host Bill O’Reilly just commit assault? Watch. We report, you decide if the 62-year old conservative pundit — who certainly has lost his cool on camera before — just did so again. While walking out of a Washington, D.C. hotel that hosted a Newt Gingrich fundraiser (O’Reilly reportedly did not attend) O’Reilly was asked by Wisconsin community organizer Brendan Lane, who shot this video, a simple question. In response, O’Reilly apparently took his open umbrella and pushed it at Lane, possibly hitting him.
I’m not a lawyer, but many, I think, would call that assault.
Then, O’Reilly has the gall to walk over to a police officer, and say that he wants to press charges against Lane. Apparently, O’Reilly hasn’t done real on-the-ground journalism in quite some time, because asking legitimate questions of public figures is part of the job.
So, what do you think? Assault? Or just asshat? Pinhead? Or Patriot?
Josh Glasstetter at Right Wing Watch adds,
“It’s a good thing for Lane that he caught O’Reilly’s temper tantrum on tape, otherwise he could have ended up in prison, falsely accused of assault. As for O’Reilly, it’s revealing that he not only struck Lane – on tape no less – but then sought to press false charges. Will there be consequences?”
Mediaite adds that O’Reilly “will address the video tonight, at 8 p.m., on The O’Reilly Factor.”
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Of course, the excellent journalists at TPM interviewed Lane, the man who got hit, and add:
Branden Lane of Milwaukee, who is part of a group called Wisconsin Jobs Now and was in D.C. as part of the Take Back The Capitol movement, told TPM he was standing outside the Willard when someone pointed out O’Reilly walking out of the hotel. He followed him, camera in hand, asking him if he was Gingrich’s fundraiser.
Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Josh Glasstetter as writing for Think Progress. He writes for Right Wing Watch. Our apologies.