Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is in the hospital today (and recovering, thankfully) after a baton attack he suffered for coming to the aid of a grandmother in a domestic dispute just outside of the Wisconsin State Fair over the weekend. The mayor was leaving the fair with his family when he heard a cry for help. Barrett then attempted to calm things down and call 911 when the assailant went after him.
Check out this excerpt:
A baton-wielding man hit Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett so hard in the face that the blow knocked out a bottom tooth at the base and some top teeth.
Barrett’s hand was shattered and repaired in a three-hour surgery. A doctor placed stitches in the mayor’s head, and he had plastic surgery to repair another cut that extended from his cheek to his nose.
John Barrett, the mayor’s brother, gave the more detailed account of the mayor’s injuries Monday and said family members were hopeful that Barrett would be able to leave Froedtert Hospital and return home soon.
He said the assailant had threatened to use a gun during the altercation Saturday night and then punched the 55-year-old mayor so hard in the stomach that he buckled.
The man then told Barrett to lie face down on the ground.
“This is when Tom thinks ‘Yikes, this guy could kill me,’ ” John Barrett said.
At that point the mayor came up swinging…
Tom Barrett is no coward. Maybe he should become the next leader in the health care debate. Speaking of which, he is also a rumored candidate for governor Wisconsin in 2010.
Have you seen that vigilante man?
I been hearin’ his name all over the land.
Well, what is a vigilante man?
Tell me, what is a vigilante man?
Has he got a gun and a club in his hand?
Is that is a vigilante man?
-Woody Guthrie
if the mayor had only had his own extendable police-style baton on him…
any guesses what mr. 20-year-old-testosterone will get for this assault? 18 months?
consider the governors race over! ride the wave man!