Wednesday, September 27th 2006
BAMN attacks College Republican?
Sad news from Truth Caucus (via Wonkette):
Justin Zatkoff, the executive director of the Michigan College Republicans, was brutally beaten after leaving a party in Ann Arbor on Saturday night. The Oakland University junior from Bloomfield Hills, Mich. was rumored to be targeted by militant leftist groups. Zatkoff, pictured above, did not know his attacker, and no money was stolen.
A source close to Zatkoff reports:
Justin may have been 1. randomly attacked (but not robbed??), 2. attacked by BAMN (well known for violence andstrong in Ann Arbor), or 3. attacked by a homosexual rights group (Justin received an ‘odd/threatening’ email from a gay rights group about a day before the attack.)
I’m not one to jump to conclusions. I go with the assumption of random violence unless there’s credible evidence otherwise. There’s something unsavory about using a personal tragedy to score political points, especially when a connection is pure speculation.
I blogged about another case of violence in Michigan last year, where a BAMN member was murdered and a BAMN supporter tried to place the blame on their political opponents. He quickly retracted.
In any case, let’s hope that the victim recovers and that the criminals are found and punished.
Just in case you missed it, the real truth is the story that he was beaten for political reasons was completely made up.
He was drunk and picked a fight with a “friend” at the party.
But hey, as long as the story smears someone who’s politics you dislike, it’s all good!
Comment by Truth and Republicans — 9/30/2006 @ 3:36 pm