The mayor of a Utah city was spat on and punched Tuesday following a city council meeting where the official called the mother of his attacker’s reporter who wrote several articles about him.
David Young, the mayor of Orem, was standing outside City Hall with several others when Linnea Pugmire approached the group and began berating the officer.
Pugmire then spat at Young, allegedly hitting both the mayor and an unidentified woman, according to video of the incident obtained by Fox13, which showed the mayor raising his hands to block his attacker.
Pugmire, who uses the pronouns they/them, asks “Do you know who I am?”
It took a few seconds for Young to realize that he was standing in front of the reporter’s daughter that he had dumped moments earlier during the meeting.
In his remarks at the end of the session, Young called out 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.
David Young, the mayor of Orem, was standing outside City Hall with several others when Linnea Pugmire approached the group and began berating the officer. Fox 13
“So I wanted to make a few comments about the news article that Genelle Pugmire of the Daily Herald put on the front page of her newspaper last weekend. Now this non-news event has been pushed to front-page status on their highest-reader weekend paper,” Young said.
The article Young referenced reports that he is “involved in a lawsuit that nets him and his son Shawn Young a $1 million judgment in 2022.”
“Now I’m not going to make a big deal about this except it keeps happening and happening and this keeps coming out of this paper and we just have to get on with it, and it’s not right, and I just want to give you some examples to help us understand this is not a coincidence isolated.”
Young, who is in his first term as mayor, went on to read the headlines from several different articles the paper ran, criticizing both the headlines and the body of the article for making the story seem scarier than it really is.
It took him a few 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 had blasted moments before.
“I know what I’m doing tonight,” Young told Pugmire outside. “I’m sick and tired of being rejected by your mother, I know now (know who you are) you look the same, I know you, you’re disgusting.”
The group, confronted by Pugmire, tells them that their mother is making things up about the mayor, but Pugmire disagrees and claims that their mother is “doing her job.”
Young allegedly threatened Pugmire’s mother with court, even saying “he likes to write about court, he’ll find out about court.”
“Your mother has gone above and beyond in this article, she has gone above and beyond every article I’ve put out,” Young said, pointing a finger at Pugmire. “But this weekend where he talked about my wife.”
During Tuesday’s city council meeting, Young took the time to call out the city’s local paper, the Daily Herald, and reporter Genelle Pugmire for articles written about the city council, herself and her family over the past few months. Orem City/YouTube
Pugmire allegedly threw a punch at Young that hit him in the face before swinging at a woman standing next to the mayor.
Pugmire told police they were upset with Young “due to 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 was at the event said his sister was the woman Pugmire hit.
“I was terrified,” Michelle Lee told the outlet. “I’m with my mom and my siblings, the mayor, the city attorney, I don’t know what his plans are, he’s so erratic and out of touch.”
Pugmire seemed to lose it and threw a punch at Young that hit him in the face before swinging at the woman standing next to the mayor. Fox 13
As police officers placed Pugmire in handcuffs, they declared the mayor was “a liar and a cheat and deserves everything that’s coming to him.” Fox 13
Pugmire was arrested and taken to the Utah County Jail where they face multiple charges, including two third-degree felony counts of threatening an elected official and one count of assault, according to the outlet. Fox 13
“He attacked me, he spat on me, he spat and hit the girl next to me,” Young told Fox13. “Obviously, when that happened, I wasn’t very happy about it, so I pushed him to try to keep him away from us.”
“For elected officials at large, this shouldn’t be a thing,” he continued. “They should be able to talk, have discussions, and make it a civil debate without fear of someone jumping out of a car and attacking them.”
“We are deeply troubled by this incident because City Hall is supposed to be a place for civil civic dialogue where everyone feels safe and protected,” The City of Orem said in a statement to Fox13. “The safety and security of our public officials is a priority. The City of Orem will continue to promote civility at all times and asks the public to join us in this effort.”
Pugmire was arrested and taken to the Utah County Jail where they face multiple charges, including two third-degree felony counts of threatening an elected official and one count of assault, according to the outlet.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
