Wisconsin congressman. Van Orden at his table awaiting he first course, the salad, at a GOP women’s luncheon at the Pfister Hotel during the Republican National Convention. He was accused of barging his way to the front of a line to get in. Once there, all seemed copasetic. Outside police were arresting a woman anti-war protester, who by some accounts, Van Orden had pushed aside to get to the door. His counterclaim: She battered him.

He said-she said: Who to believe

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The western Wisconsin congressman Derrick Van Orden issued a statement claiming he had been attacked by a Muslim woman on a crowded street outside the Pfister Hotel and injured albeit not seriously. Van Orden called it an “an incident of political violence.” The woman was arrested right away and escorted to jail. She said Van Orden started the confrontation.

> What we know. There are different accounts of what happened. This much is known. A GOP women’s brunch had been arranged at the Pfister, a classy downtown venue, as part of the Republican National Convention. People were lined up to enter the banquet room, including members of the pro-Hamas peace group CodePink This was about 11 a.m.

> Version One. CodePink organizer Nour Jaghama said Van Orden bumped into her from behind. He was barging ahead to get to the front of the line, she said. CodePink issued a statement 3-1/2 hours later that Jaghama was “peacefully waiting in line” when she was “intentionally bumped by a bald, white member of Congress while he tried to shove past her.” The statement said Jaghama did not react. Even so, a Texas state police officer, on special assignment for the convention, took her into custody. Milwaukee police subsequently arrived and arrested Jaghama – although she was subsequently released. With its statement CodePink posted a video in which Jaghama said: “He cut me in line, so I stood in front of him because I was first.” The CodePink post quoted Van Orden as soon as he ran into her:  “You are assaulting a member of Congress.”

>Version Two. Van Orden posted his version 5-1/2 hours after the incident. He offered few particular but claimed he had been “battered,”  Van Orden: “This appears to be an incident of political violence, and I will never tolerate this. Regardless of the severity of the violence, political violence is political violence.” He did not explain what he perceived as “political violence.” Police later said that Van Orden told he suffered minor injuries but refused medical attention.

> About Jaghama. She is 24 and a CodePink organizer. CodePink’s statement on the incident said that Jaghama was “visibly Palestinian” and j  pink garb, which the organization said raised the specter of racial profiling. Two other CodePink staff members, ahead of Jagham,and dressed inconspicuously, had already gone into the building “without any issues,” according to the organization’s statement. Code Pink, also known as Women for Peace, is a left-wing anti-war organization.  It opposes drone strikes, the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detention camp. It has positions on Palestinian statehood, the Iran nuclear deal, humanitarian abuse in Saudi Arabia, and peace on the Korean peninsula. CodePink has conducted marches, protests and other activist action to promote its goals.

> About Van Orden. Age 54. In first term in Congress from WI-3, which includes LaCrosse and Eau Claire.  Known for swager and white supremacy. He cultivates a macho image and campaigns on a Harley Davidson. In 2015 he drew on his experience as a Navy Seal for a primer for young men on how to command respect – “A Book of Man: A Navy Seal’s Guide to the Lost Art of Manhood.” He has little respect for lifestyles not his own. In 2021 he threatened a teen-age library aide in Prairie du Chien over a gay book on display. In 2023, after only a few weeks in office, he yelled and cursed at teen-age interns taking group selfies in the Capitol rotunda late at night. He called them disrespectful. He was drunk, the interns said. In Congress he’s been a lone wolf. In 2023 after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, he went to Israel with neither diplomatic nor military portfolio to offer advice, unsolicited though it be, from his very dated experience as a Navy enlistee going back to 2008. He has been a Trump devotee and went to the Capitol with the January 6 insurrection mob in 2021.

Jaghama. Of the CodePink war protest movement.  On the street here as directed by police trying sort out what happened. Meanwhile, the WI-3 Congressman Van Orden was quickly allowed to proceed inside to be in time for the luncheon. Meanwhile Jaghama was told to wait-in-place. She eventually was hauled to jail and was quickly released.

Sidenote

In a somewhat disconnected side note, Van Orden repeatedly lumped the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump with CodePink women’s anti-war presence in Milwaukee. This despite nothing in the investigation of the Trump attack has found no conspiracy between 20-year-old Pennsylvania shooter and Middle East policy or Islam causes. CodePink activism and protests have no record of violence.

Verbatim

Van Orden: “There is no place for political violence in this country and I have repeatedly called for people who choose this path to be prosecuted to the greatest extent of the law. Nothing will change until these people are held accountable.”