An Anti-Vax Activist Assaulted A California Lawmaker While Streaming Live On Facebook

Dr. Richard Pan, a state senator for California, has led efforts to tighten vaccine requirements for schoolchildren after measles outbreaks.

Claudia Koerner
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Last updated on August 21, 2019, at 7:42 p.m. ET
Posted on August 21, 2019, at 6:45 p.m. ET

An anti-vaccine activist was cited for assault after pushing a California lawmaker who's been at the forefront of tightening vaccine requirements for school children.

Kenneth Austin Bennett, an anti-vaxxer and conspiracy theorist who previously ran for a write-in campaign for California State Senate, was livestreaming on Facebook around noon on Wednesday while walking near the state capitol in Sacramento. After about 8 minutes of rambling about corruption and the devil, he ran into state Sen. Dr. Richard Pan on a sidewalk.

Pan, a pediatrician as well as a lawmaker, led the California legislature's response to a 2015 measles outbreak that started in Disneyland, ultimately ending the ability of parents to opt out of vaccinating their kindergartners based on religion or personal beliefs. Pan is now working on a bill that would create further oversight on medical exemptions against vaccination, a move that he said is necessary for children's safety in public schools. Anti-vaccine activists have packed hearings to voice opposition, in some cases screaming at or threatening Pan.

On Wednesday, Bennett confronted Pan about his previous statements that vaccines are safe. Bennett walked alongside Pan, peppering him with discredited anti-vaccine arguments about mercury and aluminum.

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‘Yeah, I pushed you’: Anti-vaxxer cited for assaulting lawmaker while live-streaming on Facebook

By Antonia Noori Farzan August 22 at 6:59 AM

Richard Pan, a California state senator who has been leading a charge to tighten the state’s immunization laws, was heading to lunch on Wednesday when a man accosted him.

“Oh my goodness, you guys, what are the chances of this?” Austin Bennett, an anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist, asked his 4,500 Facebook followers. The 54-year-old had been live-streaming his walk through downtown Sacramento, railing against the CIA and supposed chemtrails. Then he spotted Pan, the Democrat he previously tried to supplant in the state Senate and this year launched a petition to recall.

For years, Pan, a pediatrician, has been a target of anti-vaccine activists. After a 2015 measles outbreak at Disneyland, he authored legislation that barred parents from opting out of vaccinating their school-age children on account of their personal beliefs. This year, as California saw a surge in parents claiming medical exemptions for vaccinations, Pan introduced a bill that would give public health officials more oversight. He has experienced his fair share of online vitriol, screaming protesters and death threats.

But the Democratic lawmaker had never been the target of physical violence — until Bennett shoved him from behind, sending him stumbling down the sidewalk.

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