RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A Democratic congressman apologized Monday after video posted online showed him swatting at a video camera and demanding that two men taping him with it identify themselves.
"I deeply and profoundly regret my reaction an I apologize to all involved," Rep. Bob Etheridge said in a statement. "No matter how intrusive and partisan our politics can become, this does not justify a poor response."
Etheridge, a congressman in North Carolina since 1997, reiterated his apology at a hastily called news conference Monday afternoon.
"The truth is I had a long day," he said. "I've had bad days many times. It's not a good crutch to lean on and I won't use that."
The video was posted Monday on websites owned by Andrew Breitbart, the conservative Web entrepreneur who also released video of workers for the community organizing group ACORN counseling actors posing as a pimp and prostitute.
It shows two men approaching Etheridge with a camera on a Washington street. He swats at the camera and repeatedly asks the men who they are. When they say they are students, he grabs one by the wrist and quickly by the back of the neck before pulling him against his side.
The video is interspersed with several screens of text, including: "What happens when a US congressman meets a college kid on a street in Washington?" and a few frames later, "He goes BERSERK!"
In a telephone interview from London, Breitbart declined to name the students who recorded the video, saying he wanted to protect them. The two do not work for Breitbart and were not paid, he said.
A Breitbart employee found the video online, edited it and posted it, he said. A story accompanying the video on a Breitbart website says the video was recorded last week. Etheridge declined to say when the encounter occurred.
A Breitbart website later posted what it described as unedited video of the encounter taken from two camera angles.
Etheridge's Republican opponent in the November election, Renee Ellmers, said at a news conference that the apology was not enough but also said Etheridge deserved the benefit of the doubt.
"As a mom, I am very concerned about what happened to those college kids," said Ellmers, 46, a registered nurse who decided to run for office after speaking out against the federal health care overhaul at tea party events.
State GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer, though, predicted the incident would be "devastating" to Etheridge's re-election bid.
"This is an angry man who behaved very inappropriately," Fetzer said.
___
Online:
http://biggovernment.com/category/featured-story/
http://www.breitbart.tv/
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Read earlier story below.
Democratic Rep. Bob Ethridge of North Carolina was caught on camera engaging in a physical altercation with a man who tried to interview him.
In the video posted on the conservative website Breitbart.tv, the man asks Ethridge if he supports the "Obama Agenda." Ethridge then lunges at the camera and grabs the questioner's arm while demanding the man and the person shooting the video to identify themselves.
"I have a right right to know who you are," Ethridge says.
The questioner responds by saying he's a student working on a project.
Read more about the confrontation:
Breitbart strikes again: Catches lawmaker 'assault' on cameraman (Politico)
Bob Etheridge Altercation With "Student" Caught on Tape, Goes Viral (CBS News)
Democratic Congressman Apologizes For Encounter With Conservative Activist (NPR)
NC Congressman Under Fire for Physical Confrontation With Man in Washington (Fox News)
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKRCG