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Knight regrets confrontation with protesters

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A video that gained national attention Tuesday shows Rep. Steve Knight (R-Antelope Valley) in a heated exchange with a group of protesters.

In the video, one protester gives Knight a prolonged handshake then forcefully pats him on the shoulder, prompting Knight to warn the man, “If you touch me again, I’ll drop your ass.”

The incident happened April 17 after an open house at Knight’s Simi Valley office. Protesters confronted the congressman outside and accused him of voting in favor of “amnesty” for illegal immigrants.

After warning the protester against touching him, Knight explained that he never voted for “amnesty” and he attempted to clear up the confusion.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Knight admitted to losing his cool and said he regretted the manner in which he responded to the protesters.

“I have dealt with this group on several occasions and every time they try to escalate our conversations to a level that is not constructive. Over this past weekend, I lost my cool and I regret responding the way I did,” Knight said in the statement.

The video was uploaded to YouTube by a conservative group calling itself “We the People Rising.” The group “promotes the hiring of Americans and seeks to influence elected officials to respect and uphold U.S. immigration laws,” according to the group’s online description.

The activists also confronted Knight at an open house in March. View video of that exchange here.

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Filed Under: Lancaster, Palmdale, Politics

32 comments for "Knight regrets confrontation with protesters"

  1. What is the matter with you people? Really?

    After the handshake ended, the guy walked away and gave Knight a friendly pat on the shoulder as he was RETREATING. Guys do that all the time. It’s not an aggressive action especially since the guy was walking away after a handshake which apparently Knight was fine with hand touching.

    And, who wrote “forcefully patting him on the shouler”? Knight wasn’t thrown back or off balance. A little exaggeration perhaps.

    Now, on my monitor, Knight then moves toward the guy and grabs his right upper arm with Knight’s left hand to hold him while he says his nonsense. Now, THAT was an aggressive move on Knight’s part.

    What happened on your monitor.

    Knight was over-reacting to something that wasn’t at all physically aggressive and you guys are over-reacting yourselves. Unbelievable. It says more about you than anything in the video.

    But, here’s a video that wil help clarify the interaction for y’all.

    Be sure to have your sound on as that’s the fun part.

    http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cats+playing+patty-cake+what+they+were+saying&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=7FFF307A835FCFDF2E617FFF307A835FCFDF2E61

    Knight reminded me of that Rep. Michael Grimm who threatened a young reporter for asking him a question about campaign finance violations and Grimm reacted like Knight sayiing “I’ll break you in half”. Grimm was later convicted of campaign finance violations and went to jail.

    I’m sure this won’t be the last time Knight loses it in public and I’ll be here to say “I told ya so.” It will soon be campaign season for the presidency and Knight in the House and things will get rough and rougher.

    And, some of y’all will be here too defending him because he felt ‘vulnerable’ at the hands of a guy who was walking away and who Knight went after. Right, moll flanders? I can picture moll as a defense attorney for someone caught red-handed and she’ll say “No, he didn’t.” Your view of reality is shot, moll.

    Anyway, if’s fun to watch those on the right eat their own in public, y’know, like the Donner Party. Stay tuned. It’s only just begun.

  2. Knight is guilty as charged…a true compromised sell out merchant. With Dems and idiots like Knight behind the wheel the middle class is destroyed. Elites 1 Everyone Else 0

    • David, actually Stve Knigjt is smart. He knows that 90% of his constituents are latinos and would be very dumb not to support immigrstion. By the way, those idiot protestors are paid. The chuckle nut with the hat, wad also protesting on Murrieta, when the unfocumented children arrived. The real questipn is, who is paying these idiots.

  3. Good job, Mr. Knight. Mike was being an aggressive bully and your response was justified in sending a clear message that any further ‘touching’ will not be tolerated.

    The conservative group called “We the People Rising” is a small club of about 15 chauvinistic people that have way too much time on their hands. Their ideology is lost in their antagonistic demeanor.

  4. Mr. Knight should have made that guy go “night night” lol and Steve Knight is pretty handsome!!

  5. Senator Knight is an exquisite man. He loves this valley and reacted in a reasonable manner. As a current high school student and speaking with Knight, I can feel his sincerity. Let senator knight get back to his work!

    • When Knight was an assemblyman, he said he opposed funding California universities’ polling places because “they can’t handle the crowds”. Unbelievable.

      Americans have been voting in their neighbors’ garages and other places not built to handle crowds for years and Knight thinks universities can’t handle it.

      That was a ridiculous comment and he said it at a town hall meeting at the Holiday Inn in Palmdale prior to the 2010 election when red states began imposing new laws to ‘suppress’ voting and they targeted likely Democratic voters.

      I would have said something to Knight right then at the town hall but Mayor Ledford was there and people know I support him and I didn’t want to have my criticsim of Knight draw negative attention to the Mayor.

      It’s 3-dimensional chess. I can find 1 republican a disgrace while I can totally support another such as Mayor Ledford because he isn’t.

      You can attack me now, as usual, or you can address the issue itself. We’ll see how you do defending Knight. I also suspect this won’t be the last time he reacts inappropriately just like Chris Christie repeatedly shows what a bully he is to reporters and his constituents but thin-skinned when he’s on the receiving end like a typical bully/victim.

      Yes, that was despicable and Knight was in on the widespread GOP effort to inhibit, suppress, burden or othewise make it more difficult for American citizens who had been voting all their lives to jump through hoops to keep on exercising that right.

      Those 8 hour lines in Florida by true patriots in 2012 were the result of voter suppression and nothing to do with voter ID, the lame excuse given by defenders of those laws. Hours were shortened, early voting was curtailed, fewer machines available in minority districts in some states and so on.

      California’s universites can handle crowds which they do all the time and that makes Knight a liar in service of the GOP voter suppression drive the last 4 years.

      DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT EVEN MENTION VOTER ID. DON’T EVEN GO THERE.

      That had nothing to do with voter ID. It was just an effort to decrease voting by targeted Democrats such as college students, the disabled, the elderly, minorities, those without driver’s licenses, etc.

      Any politician who is working to suppress one of the fundamental rights in a democracy should be disqualified from holding public office.

      Don’t believe me. Ask Knight about it.

      I’ve written this before and it can’t be repeated often enough. Knight is just another rank politician doing the dirty work of the GOP.

      If there is ever a Cal State University, Antelope Valley, Knight and other republicans will likely have a hard time of it when college students vote them out in the future.

      Turn a blind eye if you like. It will say a lot about you if you do. He can support legislation that you might like yourself but his willingness to work to suppress voting by college students outweighs anything else he does.

      • @William, yes, don’t you know Republicans think “edumacation” is just for those who can afford it. Soon we will find ourselves seeing doctors, lawyers, dentists and architects that had a C-D average in school….and don’t forget about our country’s need to import engineers, because home-grown ones are not available. I say to myself, what is the point of pushing STEM education for everyone, including minorities (especially girls), if they will NEVER have the same opportunities as kiddos that have more $$$? But that is OK, because their parents paid for everything. Those with a real brain can kiss their derriere, nice mentality, it is all about “me, myself and I”, in that political party. Pay it forward? What? That’s un-American. Geeeeez!

      • Your comment William, is irrelevant. Your puffed up self-importance is sad. Are you actually commenting about people turning a blind eye? You need to take your finger that you are always pointing at others and turn it around to point at yourself. Your arrogance stinks up the comments section William. Steve Knight has my support, and I also support Mayor Ledford, and they both support each other, so you’re saying that Mayor Ledford is turning a blind eye. How arrogant of you William!

      • “I would have said something to Knight right then at the town hall but Mayor Ledford was there and people know I support him and I didn’t want to have my criticsim of Knight draw negative attention to the Mayor.”

        ….Because when you criticize….the whole world pays attention!

        • Yeah, right. You really nailed it.

          And, you totally ignored the point of the comment which was Knight’s ‘contribution’ to voter suppresion here in California.

          He’s a typical tool of the right. Stay tuned. .

        • What an amazingly arrogant statement to make! Mayor Ledford and Steve Knight back each other up, so what you’re saying is,Mayor Ledford is turning a blind eye. Take that finger you use to point at others and turn it around to point at yourself.

          • @moll flanders

            I did not say that, miss generator of BS.

            Like I told you, the voices in your head are heard all over town and you came here to share their nonsense with us.

            Yet, you still ignore the main point of my comment which I’ll repeat now.

            KNIGHT OPPOSED FUNDING FOR VOTING BOOTHS ON CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES AS HIS WAY OF SUPPORTING VOTER SUPPRESSION OF COLLEGE STUDENTS OVER 4 YEARS AGO BEFORE IT BECAME THE MAJOR THRUST OF THE GOP AFTER THEY LOST TO PRESIDENT OBAMA IN 2008.

            Knight is a right wing tool.

            Now, deal with that, moll flanders or shut up.

            This isn’t about Mayor Ledford.

      • I am not sure if you have visited or been to university campuses (during election times) with strong political views or groups, because on days prior to elections and on election days, both political groups can be quite distracting. An election poll should be neutral and respectful and believe me it wouldn’t be. If people want to vote they can, they know in plenty of time what day the election is. And if they get any mail, they would see right there on the paper is vote by mail option.

        You appear to be “well informed,” so instead of making excuses or critiquing people that you obviously don’t share the same political view, your time may be better spent trying to neutrally educate the population “they” are trying to suppress, instead of making statements like this:

        “It was just an effort to decrease voting by targeted Democrats such as college students, the disabled, the elderly, minorities, those without driver’s licenses, etc.”

        • @Allen

          If you haven’t been aware of the concerted efforts the last few years by republicans, yes republicans, to pass legislation to specifically place unnecessary burdens on various voters who might vote for Democrats, you might want to look it up.

          The republicans haven’t been shy about it while they have pushed the false meme about extensive voter fraud. Studies have shown that in-person voter fraud is virtually non-existent. Only a handful of actual convictions in over hundreds of millions of votes.

          The only voter fraud I’m aware of is that Mitt Romney used his son’s basement address as his residence in order to vote in Massachusetts while owning several homes in other states. Well, he ‘proceeded’ at the direction of President Obama and lost the election. Now, that’s poetic justice.

          If that is acceptable to you and others here, then I have no problem calling out the republicans for it and, locally, pointing out that Knight was doing his part in opposing polling places on college campuses and not because they aren’t used to handling crowds as he said.

          His comment was jaw-droppingly stupid and revealed what a tool he is for the GOP. That was before the voter suppression legislation began in earnest after the 2010 election in various red states. So, Knight must have been privy to some insider communications before the GOP took it on like a project nationwide. The republicans in Sacramento also opposed it the funding for the polling places on the campuses.

          High school students are exposed to all kinds of adult things in our society and if over 18 can fight and die in misbegotten wars in the Middle East. I don’t think my comments pointing out Knight’s ridiculous and yet harmful comments to our democracy should be a big problem for any of them.

      • Hi William. I applaud this young person (self proclaimed high school student) for speaking her mind in a relatively short paragraph. Nice of you to play political bully and go way off topic from the point she was making. A young person makes a comment as a new fish, and you just find every angle you can to slam the person she is supporting. I hope you feel better for practicing your “douchery” against a bright young mind thats learning their voice. You must feel like a big man. Probably practicing for taking on bigger game in the hunt. Go take a nap and drink your metamucil.

  6. A lot of people including me, support Mr. Steve Knight. He felt vulnerable, and his reaction is perfectly understandable. Some people haven’t learned how to be respectful.

    • @moll flanders
      “respectful” you say????

      You mean like those ‘respectful’ folks who disrupted town hall meetings when the Affordable Care Act was being debated in 2009 and who shouted down congressional representatives who happened to be Democrats? Not just once or twice but repeateldy all that summer.

      Or, the congressman Joe Walsh, who shouted “You lie.” during the President’s State of the Union speech.

      Or, that crazy former Arizona governor, Jan Brewer, sticking her finger in the President’s face.

      Or, Rudy Giuliani saying the President doesn’t love America.

      Or, Ben Carson saying some rude things at a National Prayer Breakfast, of all places, with the President sitting next to him. THAT Ben Carson, who also said that Obamacare, which will save thousands of lives, is worse than slavery. Yup. One of your ilk.

      Or, Rex Parris calling Mayor Ledford a ‘doofus’ in public. Imagine what he says behind closed doors about everyone.

      And, on and on.

      What do they have in common with you, moll?

      They are republicans who have said the most disrespectful things about the President and in Rex’s case about a neighboring city’s mayor.

      Did you ever chastize them for their rude and disrespectful statements and/or behavior?

      Knowing you, I doubt it.

      The President who has been vilified by many so-called ‘Christians’, who also happen to be republicans like you, has acted with grace and as a gentleman under the fiercest attacks. The threats on his life have quadrupled compared to previous presidents. From who, liberals?

      Yeah, moll. Too bad Steve Knight isn’t a gentleman. But, that’s your taste in elected officials. As a ‘representative’, he sure ‘represents’ you well. Too well.
      The poor thing felt ‘vulnerable’. Oh, the humanity.

  7. THESE PIECE OF TRASH PROTESTERS SHOULD OF BEEN ARRESTED ON THE SPOT, THE GUY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ARRESTED FOR ASSAULT, THESE PEOPLE ARE RACIST MINUTEMAN THAT HAVE RADICAL VIEWS. IM WHITE AND AM ASHAMED OF THIS SCUM PROTESTERS.

  8. Congressman Knight reacted appropriately… No one likes being touched, and that ”handshake” was way to long… maybe the protester was ”squeezing” too hard too, which I would have been ”furious” if that was me… KUDO’s to Steve Knight, he handled this encounter with courage and integrity!!

  10. That dark brown skin Hispanic in the background is always at rallies, he is part of the wannabe Minutemen. What a disgrace, his skin is darker than my great-grandfather’s hue. He has to be mostly Mexica, poor guy I feel sorry for him. Don’t worry, you’ll fit in somewhere one day. LOL!

    p.s.
    I’d pay to see his military record, including discharge docs

  11. I must say, I have only been in the AV for a year now and Mr. Knight has help me out greatly with the DOJ slow processing issues. I don’t know about all the negative that I hear, but he has been a blessing to my family.

  12. he shouldn’t of explained nothing regardless what they want no one is going to do nothing about it why waste their time in the street when they are not going to solve nothing. poor loosers they should go find a job all these proteters are loosers

  13. I am a Marine Veteran and a Palmdale resident. Mr. Knight is been helping me with many issues I’ve been having with Veteran Affairs. He’s a great man and I support him %100.

  14. Apparently the protester is very rude and made an unreasonable action.
    We could read the protester’s dirty mind even we did not go there.
    The Rep. makes a good standpoint and I like him. Cheer!!!!!!

  16. Mr. Knight-

    No need for regret. You kept your cool. If anything the guy that shook your hand should apologize to you for being obnoxious. I mean, he made that pretty uncomfortable. And when all was said and done you still took the time to explain your decision.

    Stay tough out there!