Anti-vaccine activist livestreams himself shoving California lawmaker who wrote vaccination bills
An anti-vaccine activist was cited for misdemeanor assault Wednesday after shoving a California lawmaker who has worked to limit exemptions for childhood vaccinations. Kenneth Austin Bennett, 54, livestreamed the confrontation on his Facebook, which shows him shoving state Senator Richard Pan on the sidewalk near the capitol in Sacramento.
Bennett has unsuccessfully attempted to recall Pan and filed paperwork to run against him last year, though he never appeared on the ballot.
The video shows him running into Pan on the sidewalk and confronting Pan about his position on vaccines. Pan briefly engages Bennett while he continues to walk.
"Maybe you should study public health," Pan said at one point.
The video then shows Bennett reaching out and shoving Pan in the back after Pan laughs, launching the lawmaker several feet forward.
"I pushed you," Bennett said several times, before walking away and saying into the camera, "I probably shouldn't have done that." He then walks back toward Pan and continues speaking to him as Pan and several people with him call the police.
"You are a liar and the assault that you're committing on our children is so egregious," Bennett said to Pan before leaving and continuing his video.
The Sacramento Police Department confirmed they cited and released Bennett for misdemeanor assault. Bennett later began another livestreaming Facebook video, where he continued to discuss his problems with vaccinations and Pan.
Pan, a Sacramento Democrat, has authored several bills that limit exemptions for child vaccinations that have made him a target of anti-vaccine activists online and at the capitol, where hundreds have flocked to protest Pan's efforts. He authored a bill several years ago that prohibits any vaccinations other than from a doctor, meaning religious or personal exemptions are not allowed.
- Teaching anti-vax parents to trust science and the MMR vaccine
- American Academy of Pediatrics report urges travelers get MMR vaccine in wake of "record-breaking" European measles outbreak
Legislation he has authored this year aims at cracking down on doctors who are selling fraudulent medical exemptions.
Shannan Velayas, a spokeswoman for Pan, did not respond to a request for comment about the incident. Senate President pro Tem Toni Atkins, a Democrat, said there is "no reason for resorting to violence."
"There is ample room to discuss differences of opinion within the Legislative process, which is transparent and open to the public, and it is shameful that someone would betray the trust we have placed in that process and physically attack Dr. Pan," she said in a statement.
