Since the 2016 election, politics have seemingly become increasingly volatile. The shooting at a ballpark where Republicans were practicing for an annual goodwill, charity baseball game with Democrats was the antithesis of the many awful things we could imagine.
But civil discourse met with another low hit Monday night when a man doused Fox News host Kat Timpf with an entire 1.5-liter bottle of water. The man apparently singled her out shortly before she was scheduled to speak at a campaign event for her longtime friend and Reform Party candidate for Brooklyn Borough President, Ben Kissel.
Timpf tweeted about the assault shortly after and expressed how much of America feels about political discourse in 2017.
I'm at Union Pool in BK, about to speak at my friend @BenKissel's campaign event, a guy walks in, dumps an entire bottle of water on me …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… walks in, clearly here because he knows I'm here, dumps an entire 1.5 liter bottle of water on me, first on my head and then I turn …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… to look and he splashes it directly on my face and runs out. I'm shocked, I'm stunned. I'm obviously upset. I end up not being able …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… to speak because of it. I've never seen a more disgusting insane cruel climate than the one we're in now. Why? What does that …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
accomplish? I guess I wasn't able to speak so that's great and I guess he wins, but we're just randomly assaulting people in public now?
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
That's what we're doing? Verbal assault on Twitter not enough anymore? I've had it. I'm an actual, human person. I have a soul, a family …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… I have feelings. I have opinions, some of which some people may disagree with, but I'm a human being. I'm capable of recognizing …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… that people with whom I disagree have souls and families and are humans, why are there so many people who seem incapable of viewing …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… the world that way? Seriously? I work really hard, I feel as though I never stop working, and to have the end result be to not even …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… be able to exist in the world as a human being without being assaulted verbally and now physically by strangers? Complete strangers?
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… and of course, I still don't know exactly what this lunatic's issue with me was. If he was trying to change my mind about something …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… by dumping his water on my head, the very least he could have done was express what it was specifically that he had an issue with …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… either before or after assaulting me. I'm getting hate from people on all sides of the aisle bc have views that don't fit in with any ..
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… particular party, so I have no way of knowing who or what the hell this guy aligned with and then I realized that it's likely not …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… even about that. It's not about specific issues anymore it's about either blindly supporting or blindly hating particular people …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… and for whatever reason, this guy has decided that I am someone who he hates. Not for views, but as a human. Or not a human, because …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… clearly he doesn't see me as one, but as some sort of an abstract entity that stands for something he hates. It's disgusting, I'm …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… disgusted, and everyone needs to do better than this infantile bullshit because I for one have had it with senseless hostility …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
… it's not activism, it's not in support of anything, it's nothing but sickness and cruelty. I've had it with people behaving like …
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
animals. Get it together and grow up.
— Kat Timpf (@KatTimpf) July 25, 2017
Timpf perfectly expresses how nonsensical this approach is if the goal is to convince anyone. She has displayed for over half a decade that she is willing and able to have a dialog with those who don’t agree with her. The friend she was there to speak on behalf of, Ben Kissel, is also well-known for engaging civilly with those he may not agree with entirely. Neither of them can be described as straight right-wing adherents.
These kinds of attacks must be curbed and spoken out against on both sides. Unfortunately, the Left’s penchant for physical assault and violence is well-known and long expected.
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