Vandalism is a normal part of the course of a political campaign — with signs stolen, cars with bumper stickers keyed or spray painted comments plastered on walls of offices used by candidates and their staff.
But the son of a Wisconsin state legislator paid the price for defending a Romney sign from two apparent Obama supporters, he was beaten for standing up for his property and the candidate his sign supports.
Early Friday morning, thugs presumably supporting President Obama beat up the son of Wisconsin State Senator Neal Kedzie outside of his apartment in Whitewater. Kedzie caught the two men removing a Romney sign outside of his apartment around two o’clock in the morning. After telling them to put the signs back, one of the thugs attacked Kedzie and then put him in a choke hold and continued to beat his head.
Mark Belling spoke to the Senator’s son Sean on the radio earlier today. Sean Kedzie told Belling he was rushed to the hospital by ambulance with possible skull and eye socket fractures.
Here is Sen. Kedzie’s statement:
Early on Friday morning, October 19th, my son Sean was awakened by noises outside his residence in Whitewater. As he went to see what the commotion was about, he noticed an individual removing a Romney/Ryan yard sign from his property. He yelled to the person that they were taking something not theirs and to return it immediately. The individual returned the sign, however, a second person confronted and attacked Sean without warning.
Sean was wrestled to the ground by both persons, held down by a constricting chokehold, and struck repeatedly about the face and head. He nearly passed out from the chokehold and suffered contusions to his face and eyes. Fortunately, an alert neighbor heard the commotion, scared the individuals away, and called the police. My wife and I were awakened by a telephone call from Sean’s roommate that Sean had been taken by ambulance to Fort Atkinson Memorial Hospital.
Sean was treated for his injuries and released from the hospital the same day. As this was a private family matter, we chose not to remark publicly about it and allow law enforcement to do their job. But we understand these types of incidents will eventually become public and questions will arise, particularly in my position as a state legislator.
Sean is still recovering from the injuries he sustained as a result of this beating, and we are confident he will make a full recovery. But obviously, as parents, we are shaken by this event and very troubled it was apparently initiated and motivated for political reasons.
