65-year-old man got his finger bitten off at a health care rally

A health care rally turned ugly Wednesday night when an anti-reform supporter of President Obama’s health care plan got his pinky finger bitten off.

The incident occurred in Ventura, California during a rally organized by MoveOn.org to support the Obama administration’s proposed health care reform.

Witnesses said an anti-reform group met nearby looking for trouble and things turned nasty when a man passed through the anti-reform group to join MoveOne.org and a 65-year-old man took a “swing at him.”

The unidentified man fought back and that’s when things got really ugly.

A witness said, “the anti-reform man, who was wearing a orange shirt hit the pro-reform guy hard in the face knocking him down to the ground. The man got up, tried to get back up on the curb, but the man in the orange shirt struck him in the face, again.  The two got into a scuffle and the pro-reform man bit off the anti-reform man’s finger.”

MoveOn.org released a statement saying, “Yesterday, MoveOn held over 350 peaceful candlelight vigils nationwide, in which tens of thousands of people participated in, to call for immediate action on health care reform including a strong public option.

“We have seen press reports that indicate at one event in Southern California a regrettable act of violence happened.  While we do not have any more facts about what happened then what we saw in press accounts, MoveOn condemns violence in all forms.  We have seen passions run high on both sides all summer in the health care debate, and we strongly believe that this nation deserves an honest, peaceful and respectful debate about health care reform.”

“While we don’t know if either party involved was a MoveOn member, we regret any violence that may have occurred yesterday, and we support the Ventura County Sheriff’s investigation into the situation.  It is our firm hope that this event does not detract from the tens of thousands who were out peacefully making their voices heard for health care reform and a public option.”

Both men disappeared when the police arrived