Republican California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder cut his campaign bus tour short on Wednesday after members of his security team were assaulted by unnamed attackers.
Video of the incident shows at least one perpetrator, a woman who appeared to be white, dressed in all black and in a gorilla mask with pink hair, throwing an egg at the candidate from behind while he walked through a homeless encampment in Venice, California. The object narrowly missed Elder’s head.
“We’re getting egged from behind,” one person says in the video.
When a member of the candidate’s security detail confronted the woman, who was on a bike, she yelled profanities at him and punched him in the face. Another man on the scene confronted the security officer face to face while a different unmasked white woman took a swing at his head. Elder was quickly escorted from the scene and into a vehicle while a small crowd yelled at him.
“The Democrats control everything,” one guy told the camera. “[Elder] couldn’t get nothing done.”
Breaking: A flying egg narrowly missed the back of recall candidate @larryelder's head after it was thrown by an activist wearing a gorilla mask in Venice. A scuffle broke out and the candidate was escorted into an SUV.
Here's the raw (pun intended)
CW: f-bombs@SpecNews1SoCal pic.twitter.com/FeFx3wnuSD— Kate Cagle (@KateCagle) September 8, 2021
Shortly after the scuffle, the Republican tweeted that, in addition to being “physically assaulted,” his security detail was also “shot with a pellet gun.”
“Today I kicked off the Recall Express bus tour. Before we even left Los Angeles, my security detail was physically assaulted, shot with a pellet gun, and hit with projectiles. The intolerant left will not stop us. We will recall Gavin Newsom. We will save California,” he wrote.
Today I kicked off the Recall Express bus tour. Before we even left Los Angeles, my security detail was physically assaulted, shot with a pellet gun, and hit with projectiles. The intolerant left will not stop us. We will recall Gavin Newsom. We will save California.
— Larry Elder (@larryelder) September 9, 2021
While the identity of the violent woman is unclear, some Twitter users noted that, although she appeared to be white, outlets like the Los Angeles Times (which previously referred to Elder as a “white supremacist”) failed to mention in their headlines the racial overtones of the attack on the conservative candidate. Others commented that the corporate media was simply not giving adequate coverage to the attack.
The newspaper that called Larry Elder a "white supremacist" in a headline now refuses to state in a headline that a white person wearing a monkey mask attacked him. https://t.co/wwgV8FMt4s
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 8, 2021
Polling indicates that if Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom is recalled, Elder is the current favorite to replace him. If elected, Elder would be California’s first black governor.
Source: The Federalist
