Watch Video: Recall Sides Fight Outside Stater Brothers

The fight between Lake Forest City Council recall supporters and their anti-recall rivals reached its zenith on March 26 -- the day before Easter -- outside Stater Brothers grocery store at the corner of El Toro Road and Trabuco.

After several instances of intimidation by anti-recall supporters at other locations, according to recall chairman Leah Basile, the two sides finally got physical when Cindy Hamilton -- invoking the name of councilman Scott Voigts and yelling profanities, according to witnesses -- slugged signature gatherer Merijoe Axelrod, who was collecting signatures to recall Voigts, Andrew Hamilton and Dwight Robinson.

The Orange County District Attorney's office refused to file charges against Hamilton. Only after the D.A.'s decision did the Orange County Sheriff's Department release the store surveillance video after a public records request.

• Should they Resign: Here's Why they Should
• Republican Party Letter Raises Cronyism Suspicion
• A Deceptive Photo in Smear Campaign Against Nick
• Hamilton's Folly: Can't Control an Audience of Six
  

In the video, which is shot from the inside of the store, it's clear that Hamilton -- standing near the entrance to the store -- takes an aggressive posture. Axelrod appears from the left carrying an armful of petitions and is hit by a left hook from Hamilton. Hamilton moves menacingly over Axelrod when another recall supporter, Josue Vizcay, comes to Axelrod's aid and is seen with his arm over Hamilton's back while she leans over Axelrod; it's unclear what kind of contact Vizcay makes with Hamilton, who falls to the ground only after Vizcay has moved out of view, about two seconds later.

Later in the video, Hamilton is shown using her cell phone to take video, which she posted later that day. That video does include audio of her and Vizcay.

Hamilton, sitting on the ground: "I can't even go to the store?"

Vizcay: "Why'd you have to curse and start fighting her. You hit her first."

Hamilton: "She jumped on me."

Vizcay: "No she didn't. You hit her."

Hamilton: "I have it on video."

Also in that video, a male passerby confronts Vizcay for hitting a woman; Vizcay explains that Hamilton had called him racist names before the fight.

• Nick is Anti-Establishment, Thus A Target of Council Rivals
• Councilmen Called 'Local Symbols of Hate'
• Voigts Talks 14 Seconds, Lies Twice
• Lake Forest Politics Just Got Sleazier

The surveillance video also shows Axelrod gathering up the papers that went flying after she was struck, and doing so in close proximity of Hamilton. At one point, she flings her hand toward Hamilton.

The incident accelerated tensions between the two sides. On April 20, the recall supporters handed over about 8,200 signatures; if the county clerk can verify 7,882 valid signatures of registered voters for any of the three councilmen, there will be a recall election.

Although the other two councilmen, Adam Nick and Jim Gardner, called for peace between the two sides in the days after the fight, Hamilton, Voigts and Robinson did not. Andrew Hamilton and Robinson did post Hamilton's video and referenced recall supporters as "thugs," including cartoons depicting recall supporters as bullies.

Robinson called Vizcay "mentally unstable" and blamed Nick and Gardner for the violence. "This is out of control," he wrote on social media before eventually removing the post. "If Adam Nick and Jim Gardner don't admonish this behavior they're even worse than the thugs they are employing."

Curiously, earlier Tuesday the California Form 460 forms were released and showed Robinson (and Voigts) had contributed $5,000 to the Nick is Nuts anti-recall effort which engaged in thuggery of its own, a smear campaign against Nick -- alleging the recall was a power grab by him -- that included literature rooted in racism and hate, included lies and half-truths, implied signature gatherers were pedophiles, and mocked recall supporters. The literature produced in the councilmen's defense didn't address the actual issues their critics cited, which included corruption, cronyism and collusion.

At the Tuesday council meeting, Gardner asked for the resignations of Hamilton and Voigts. At the conclusion of the meeting during their time to address those in attendance -- and after hearing criticism during the public comments which also included requests for their resignations -- neither Robinson, Voigts nor Hamilton had any comment.

• Adam Nick's voting record
• Citizens to End Corruption in Lake Forest
• Analysis: Mayor Perpetuates Lie Against Nick

About the author: Martin Henderson won several Los Angeles and Orange County press club awards while an editor at Patch in 2012-13.