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An anti-vaccine activist was cited for manslaughter Wednesday after shoving a California lawmaker who has been working to limit immunization exemptions for children. Kenneth Austin Bennett, 54, watched the confrontation on Facebook, which shows him shaking Senator Richard Pan on the sidewalk near the capital city of Sacramento.
Bennett tried unsuccessfully to recall Pan and filed documents against him last year, although he never appeared on the ballot.
The video shows him running on Pan on the sidewalk and confronting Pan about his position on vaccines. Pan hires Bennett briefly while he continues to walk.
"Maybe you should study public health," Pan said at one point.
The video then shows Bennett reaching out and pushing Pan in the back after Pan's laugh, projecting the legislator several steps forward.
"I pushed you," Bennett said several times, before moving away and saying to the camera, "I probably should not have done that." He then returns to Pan and continues to talk to him while Pan and several people with him call the police.
"You are a liar and the assault you commit on our kids is so blatant," Bennett told Pan before leaving and continuing his video.
The Sacramento Police Department confirmed that he cited and released Bennett for assault. Bennett then began another live Facebook video, in which he continued to discuss his vaccination problems and Pan.
Pan, a Democrat from Sacramento, is the author of several bills limiting immunization exemptions for children. He thus became the target of anti-vaccine activists online and in the capital, where hundreds of people rallied to protest his efforts. He drafted a law several years ago that prohibits any vaccination other than that of a doctor, which means that religious or personal exemptions are not allowed.
The legislation he is authoring this year is aimed at cracking down on doctors who sell fraudulent medical exemptions.
Shannan Velayas, a Pan spokeswoman, did not respond to a request for comment on the incident. Senate Speaker Democrat Tem Toni Atkins said there was "no reason to resort to violence."
"It is largely possible to discuss differences of opinion within the legislative process, which is transparent and open to the public, and it is shameful that someone betrays the trust we have placed in this process and attacks physically Dr. Pan, "she said. in a report.
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