A Tea Party protest against illegal immigration turned violent Saturday in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, when two Tea Party representatives went to confront a group of counter-protesters and were beat up.
One of the Tea Partiers was 62-year-old David Caulkett, a well-known immigration hardliner in Florida who has appeared as a spokesman in the media, such as the show of former CNN host Lou Dobbs.
Saturday's Tea Party protest in Ft. Lauderdale, part of a coordinated nationwide effort, drew a group of about 10 counter-protesters with the Florida Chapter of Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER).
At the busy intersection, they chanted, "Amnesty yes, racists no!"
In the incident, which was captured on video by the Tea Party camp, two camera-wielding Tea Partiers approached the ANSWER people in an effort to photographs their signs.
One of the counter-protesters responds by whacking a Tea Partier with a sign. The video then pans out to show the other Tea Partier, Caulkett, president of Floridians for Immigration Enforcement, sitting on top of the initial attacker on the street, as cars whiz past.
Caulkett's Tea Party comrade then comes running to his aid, but behind him is a sign-wielding ANSWER protester, charging at full-tilt. He bashes Caulkett in the head with his sign, and then puts Caulkett in the headlock. The two ANSWER protesters continue to wrestle with Caulkett, and one gives Caulkett a knee to the face.
Meanwhile, a third, heavy-set ANSWER protester entered the fray, apparently breaking a sign over the other Tea Partier's back and tumbling on top of him, pinning the Tea Partier to the ground.
Caulkett has launched Web sites such as ReportIllegals.com, which encourages citizens to anonymously report detailed information on suspected illegal immigrants to the U.S. government. BusinessWeek reported that he was laid off from his job as a computer technician in 2003. In the article, he is quoted saying, "These people have not contributed to our society."
(Click here to watch him in a debate against representatives from amnesty groups.)
For its part, ANSWER has militant leanings in the other direction. The day before the proest, the group sent out a mass email that seemed to condone violence.
"Racism is like anything else in this world: in order to make it fall, you must smash it! That is why we are calling on all people to come out tomorrow, to organize a militant confrontation with the so-called 'tea baggers.' Beating back these forces will require us to organize together, take the streets, fight the racists wherever they show their faces and drive them out of every community."
Meanwhile, a corresponding Tea Party protest in Phoenix was also disrupted by a brawl between a Tea Partier and a Neo-Nazi who tried to unfurl a banner depicting Hitler.
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