'Protesting' Toddler Left in Tears; Congressional Aide Hospitalized

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA — Dramatically conflicting accounts emerged Thursday of a hallway political protest that left a long-time aide of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher hospitalized and a 2-year-old girl in tears.

A day after Rohrabacher released a statement characterizing protesters outside his district office as "enemies of democracy" engaged in violent "political thuggery," the group known as Indivisible OC 48 released a video from the Tuesday incident (watch it below), which shows a seemingly peaceful gathering erupt into shouting when someone inside the congressman's office pushes open the door, knocking over a toddler as she passed "Valentine's Day cards" underneath.

According to Huntington Beach Police, the staffer then slipped and fell as she tried to pull the door closed against protesters who were trying hold it open to talk to her.

Though the incident is unusual in Orange County, where Rohrabacher has long enjoyed popularity among his conservative constituents, it's the kind of scene playing out across the country.

The controversial presidency of Donald Trump has mobilized activists and massive protest efforts, frequently targeting local legislators at their offices and town hall meetings. Rep. Tom McClintock, a Republican from Elk Grove, recently had to be escorted from his own town hall by police, and Reps. Jason Chaffetz (Utah), Diane Black (Tennessee), all saw their community meetings dominated by chants and tough questions from tense crowds, reported The Denver Post.

Incidents such as these recently prompted Republican lawmakers to rethink security for their public events.

For his part, Rohrabacher has little patience for the protesters, who have become regular fixtures outside his office. The protesters for a group known as Indivisible OC 48 meet in the hallway of Rohrabacher's Huntington Beach office every Tuesday, according to Sue Dvorak, a member of the group.

"It was the fourth Tuesday in a row," Dvorak said. "Citizens from Orange County's 48th Congressional District have peacefully, quietly and respectfully attempted to visit the office of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher in Huntington Beach to request a town hall meeting to express their concerns."

According to Dvorak, Rohrabacher has largely ignored their request and concerns. She said the representative's staff has locked the door, refusing to open it to anyone who didn't have an appointment.

On Valentine's Day, the group decided to take another tack, according to Dvorak, by bringing messages in the form of Valentine's Day cards to slip under the door.

A YouTube video of the protest shows that photographers captured a toddler who was slipping cards under the congressman's door in a photo op. What happened next startled all, including the toddler, who was knocked to the ground in tears. The video closes just after that event, and what happened on the other side of the door was not known.

"The staffers inside must have been aware of the group gathered outside, yet without warning, a staffer abruptly opened the door and struck the child," Dvorak said.

According to Rohrabacher's office, the staffer who opened the door also fell at the time the child was knocked down.

Kathleen Staunton, a 71-year-old woman who manages the congressman's Huntington Beach Office, attempted to exit through the front door to visit the restroom.

"A protester yanked the door open and caused her to fall and hit her head," said Ken Grubbs, spokesperson for Rohrabacher's office. "Staunton was treated by paramedics and taken to a local hospital."

According to Huntington Beach Police Department, Staunton fainted while talking to police, and paramedics were called.

She declined transport by the paramedics and went to the hospital with a friend, instead, according to HBPD information officer Jennifer Marlatt. The mother of the child did not believe her child had been hurt in the incident, either, according to Marlatt.

In the YouTube video below, the door was shown opening from the inside, striking the child and knocking her to the ground. Protesters did not open the door, the video shows, and what happened next was not shown in the video.

"Officers with the Huntington Beach Police Department filed an information report, as they could not confirm that any crime had occurred," Marlatt said.

Both the woman who went to the hospital as well as the woman with the child who got hit with the door were interviewed by HBPD officers, Marlatt said.

Rohrabacher released the following statement on Wednesday:

I am outraged beyond words that protesters who mobbed my Huntington Beach office violently knocked down my faithful district director, Kathleen Staunton, causing her to be hospitalized. And, yes, deliberate or not, the incident came as part of a mob action that not only intimidates but coerces. Though the protesters think of themselves as idealists, they engaged in political thuggery, pure and simple. These people do not want, as they’ve claimed, to hold a town hall meeting with me. These are unruly activists on whom the lessons of civility and democratic participation have been lost. They have repeatedly disrupted the normal operations of my district office, preventing my staff from serving constituents with real needs, such as veterans’ and social security issues. They are part of a nationwide, anti-Trump mobilization, whose organizers call themselves, with supreme hypocrisy, by the name “Indivisible.” In fact, they are bent on dividing the nation, defying the will of voters and undermining the legitimacy of the election. These holier-than-thou obstructionists will be held responsible for this outrageous assault. They are exposing themselves for what they are -- enemies of American self-government and democracy.

Of the congressman's heated reply, the Indivisible OC 48 group released a rebuttal statement.

“We are still completely stunned by our Congressman’s press release this morning using language like 'thugs, 'protest-turned-violent', 'assault', and 'mob.' The entire situation was an accident and was captured on video," said Mike Lisenbery, founder of the Indivisible OC48. "We’re Congressman Rohrabacher’s constituents, and we just want him to listen to our stories about how the decisions he makes affects us.”

The hallway gatherings are slated to continue, according to Dvorak.

"The gatherings at Rohrabacher’s office are the result of a bi-partisan group of concerned citizens all coming together in an attempt to establish peaceful interactions and respectful communication with Representative Rohrabacher," she said.

Patch contacted Rohrabacher's office regarding the incident. When asked if the Congressman had an alternate statement after viewing the video, the office attempted to refute its contents.

"The video you saw originated from the Indivisible camp," Grubbs said in an email. "It was cut before the incident happened."

Patch has requested the full video from the OC48 group. Rohrabacher's office stated that though it did not have surveillance video of the hallway incident, it did have witnesses.

Image credit: YouTube screen capture