The mayor of a Utah city was spat on and punched Tuesday after a city council meeting where the official criticized his attacker’s reporter mother, who wrote several articles about him.
David Young, the mayor of Orem, was outside City Hall with others when Linnea Pugmire approached the group and began berating the official.
Pugmire then spits in Young’s direction, allegedly striking both the mayor and an unknown woman, according to video of the incident obtained by Fox13, which shows the mayor raising his arms to block his attacker.
Pugmire, who uses they pronouns, asked, “Do you know who I am?”
It took Young a couple of seconds to realize he was standing in front of the daughter of a reporter he criticized moments earlier during the meeting.
In his comments at the end of the session, Young criticized the city’s local newspaper, The Daily Herald, and reporter Genelle Pugmire for articles written about City Hall, him and his family over the past few months.
David Young, the mayor of Orem, was standing outside City Hall along with several other people when Linnea Pugmire approached the group and began berating the official.FOX 13
“So I want to make some comments about a news article that Genelle Pugmire of the Daily Herald published on the front page of her newspaper last weekend. Now this non-news event was put on the front page of the most widely read weekend newspaper,” Young said.
The article Young referred to reported that he was “involved in a lawsuit that hit him and his son Shawn Young with a $1 million judgment in 2022.”
“Now, I wouldn’t make a big deal out of this, except that it keeps happening and happening and this keeps coming out of this newspaper and we have to move on, and it’s just not right, and I just wanted to give you a few examples to help us understand that this It is not an isolated incident”.
Young, who is in his first term as mayor, read the headlines of several different articles the newspaper featured, criticizing both the headlines and the body of the articles for making the stories seem more sinister than they really were.
It took him a couple of seconds to realize that he was standing in front of the daughter of a reporter who had written several articles about him and the city council, the same reporter he criticized moments before.FOX 13
“I know what I did tonight,” Young told Pugmire outside. “I’m sick and tired of your mother pushing me around, now I know who you are, you look the same, I recognize you, you’re disgusting.”
The group, confronted by Pugmire, told them that his mother was making things up about the mayor, but Pugmire disagreed and stated that his mother was “doing her job.”
Young allegedly threatened Pugmire’s mother with going to court, even saying that “he likes to write about the court, he’ll find out about the court.”
“Your mother went overboard on this article, she went overboard on every article I took out,” Young says, pointing his finger at Pugmire. “But this weekend when he talked about my wife.”
During Tuesday’s city council meeting, Young took time to criticize the city’s local newspaper, the Daily Herald, and reporter Genelle Pugmire, for articles written about the city council, himself and his family over the past few months. Orem City/YouTube
Pugmire allegedly threw a punch at Young, hitting him in the face before hitting the woman standing next to the mayor.
Pugmire told police they were upset with Young “because of personal concerns with the family,” according to arrest documents obtained by Fox13.
A bystander who was with his family at the meeting because his father is on the council said his sister was the woman beaten by Pugmire.
“I was terrified,” Michelle Lee told the outlet. “I’m with my mom and my sisters, the mayor, the city attorney, I don’t know what her plan was, she was so erratic and crazy.”
Pugmire appeared to lose control and threw a punch at Young, hitting him in the face before hitting the woman standing next to the mayor.FOX 13
As police officers handcuffed Pugmire, they proclaimed that the mayor was a “liar and a cheat and deserves everything that awaits him.” FOX 13
Pugmire was arrested and taken to the Utah County Jail, where he faces multiple charges, including two third-degree felonies for threatening elected officials and one count of assault, according to the outlet.FOX 13
“She charges at me, spits at me, spits and hits the girl next to me,” Young told Fox13. “Obviously, when that happened, she wasn’t very happy about it, so I put pressure on her to try to get her away from us.”
“For elected officials in general, this should not exist,” he continued. “They should be able to talk, have discussions and have civil debate without fear of someone jumping out of a car and attacking them.”
“We are deeply concerned about this incident because City Hall should be a place for civic dialogue where everyone feels safe and secure,” the city of Orem said in a statement to Fox13. “The safety of our public officials is a top priority. The City of Orem will continue to promote civility at all times and ask the public to join us in this effort.”
Pugmire was arrested and taken to the Utah County Jail, where he faces multiple charges, including two third-degree felonies for threatening elected officials and one count of assault, according to the outlet.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn