[UpNorth]

I'm surprised he didn't contact CNN first, for another 15 minutes of fame that he seems to crave so much.

[Eg_cruz]

Originally Posted by Love2Swim

Ed McGinty, who is known as an anti-Trump protester, was physically attacked by one of the Trump supporters who hijacked the Blue Lives Matter parade, near Sumter Landing today. His picture was on Facebook, and showed him to be battered and bleeding. McGinty was on his way to his daily protest, and from the sounds of it was not at the actual parade. The attack took place near the Sumter Landing Winn Dixie.

This is outrageous and is a black stain on Florida's Friendliest Hometown. Whether you like his views or not, he certainly has a right to protest, and to face physical violence in this manner is just frightening. He has also received threatening letters. What is the matter with these people?

How do you know it was a Trump supporter.....or are you assuming it was a Trump supporter because he’s so anti-trump? Seems to me you really don’t know the full FACTS at all.......this is how Fake News starts

[Astron]

Originally Posted by JoMar

Ed's signs weren't inteded to provide dialogue, inform or work to any solution, they were intended to inflame and aggravate. When you do that sooner or later you put yourself in harms way.

So much for America’s lauded freedom. To use of violence against people that you disagree with is the opposite of the ideals in the Bill of Rights, and are the actions of a terrorist not a patriot. I do not care if the signs are, “intended to inflame and aggravate”. To get in a fist fight over a political sign is just wrong.

[Joe C.]

The most effective way, and actually the quietest and peaceful way to voice your protest is at the ballot box.

Reading all these posts for and against McGinty and the assailant, it just shows how EVERYBODY HAS AN OPINION, and in it's own way, each post is actually a protest or show of support. It's just not "public" in the physical sense.

When you publicly protest with inflammatory signs, you might as well have a "hit me" sign on your back.

Did McGinty deserve to be attacked? Not really.
Do I feel bad for him? Not really.

[Heyitsrick]

Originally Posted by tenorgirl

MLK protests were peaceful-the riots happened AFTER he left. Most VietNam protests were peaceful-you must have missed that word as you mention one -1- that wasn’t. One is not a majority unless it was the only.

Interesting opinion - I guess you'd have to then agree that this logically extends to all who wear a police uniform too, right? I mean, given your point of view, we obviously can't label police as some kind of group that's "systemically" racist, correct? In the interests of being consistent, you certainly must hold the view that the acts of individuals don't reflect any/all who are part of the same organization.

By the way, that also holds for all residents of The Villages. I don't know what happened to this man, but it does seem clear that it was an individual who committed the assault. It wasn't a community, unlike what some here (not directed at you, personally) in the forum would like to portray. Yep, seemingly fewer and fewer care about individual responsibility any more. It's so much easier to just label a group and tarnish their collective names / reputations. It's a pretty pathetic exercise, but I'm seeing it more and more often.

[xNYer]

Originally Posted by John41

McGinty had a sign on his cart “Hang Him” obvious who he was referring to. Now he’s getting a taste of his own medicine. And free speech does not mean yelling “fire” in a theater which his inflammatory signs are doing. He should be arrested for inciting to riot.

Are you freakin kidding. You can assault someone because you don’t like his sign? You are justifying criminal behavior. Where is your respect for law and order.

[Joelack99]

Originally Posted by JoMar

Ed's signs weren't inteded to provide dialogue, inform or work to any solution, they were intended to inflame and aggravate. When you do that sooner or later you put yourself in harms way.

In my country you have the right to protest any body or anything without being put in harm’s way. In my country you do NOT have the right to physically assault anyone. In my country we respect each other and will fight to the death for them to respect their views, even if we disagree.
What the hell is happening to my country?

[kaniess]

No description of the attacker's golf cart. Only that he looks Italian. This smells like a false flag operation. Trump supporters did not hijack the support the police parade.

[ALadysMom]

Why do we all buy into the presimption that the incident was as it was reported, at all?

The motivations which cause strong emotions like angry outbursts are often not what they seem.

What if they had a previous altercation that carried over? It’s very common for tragic situations to be caused by domestic disputes, for example. Maybe there was a previous fight over where a dog pooped? That seems to infuriate a lot of Villagers a lot more than cart flair does. Just sayin.

Originally Posted by davem4616

ya wanna be an activist ...this stuff is gonna happen

very sad that anyone was assaulted...however...no matter how flat the pancake is there is always two sides to it
....his behavior may have egged it on, no way of knowing...but just saying

if he got into someone's face, he's the one at fault...and would have escalated it...maybe he crossed the wrong person, someone
that had had a lousy breakfast and had gas and was in a bad mood to begin with....who knows for sure

no one knows what someone leaves behind when they leave the house

but I wasn't there and I'm not passing any judgment on anybody

all I can say is:

"well this is certainly a fine kettle of fish that we've gotten ourselves into Ollie, isn't it"

we are a nation divided....what should we think is going to happen when two zealots from opposite sides of the spectrum come head to head?

Not sure what you mean by “got into someone’s face” but words are never an excuse for violence. I understand that words can provoke, but the one who resorts to actual violence puts themselves in the wrong.

[ChickenDinner]

Is that how you would feel if it was you attached? Maybe the attacker had gas!

[karostay]

Suburbia culture infiltrates the Villages it was only a matter of time
Friendliest home town....Yea right

[Scorpyo]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

This is The Villages. Given today's climate, he's lucky he wasn't shot. There's no excuse for this behavior and the assailant should be prosecuted. No one SHOULD be assaulted for poor judgement. On the other hand, which one of us would consider walking into a BLM "protest" with a sign that states "the police are just doing their job", or "white lives matter"? I think we all know the result of that lapse in judgement as well.

I agree - the assailant should be prosecuted. My only question is who was the assailant? I've heard a lot of speculation. Actually the first post should have started with "Allegedly" but I guess rush-to-judgement is the order of the day. I am, however, going to test your theory. Tonight I'm going to go down to metro Atlanta wearing my MAGA hat and Blue Lives Matter t-shirt. I'll let you know tomorrow how it all works out. I'm sure I'll get lots of complements.

[iht2209]

Similar to a tv personality we all know

[ALadysMom]

What? No video?