HENRY GASPARIAN PLEADS GUILTY IN OBAMA-HITLER DUST-UP
By Caleb Hannan in Crime & Punishment
Seattle Weekly
2010/02/henry_gasparian_pleads_guilty.php
Feb 5 2010
WA
As a kid growing up in war-ravaged Armenia, Henry Gasparian lost
two uncles and his brother in Nazi Germany’s occupation of the Soviet
Union. It’s understandable, then, that he might get peeved when someone
compares President Barack Obama to Hitler, the man who’s personally
responsible for the death of three of his relatives.
Back in September, the 71-year-old Gasparian was walking in to
the Edmonds Farmers Market when he saw two supporters of perennial
presidential candidate and all-around kook Lyndon LaRouche displaying
a poster of Obama with a Hitler ‘stache. Gasparian says he tried to
grab the fliers they were handing out. The LaRouchies told police he
repeatedly pushed them and grabbed one of their arms.
As a kid, Gasparian said he often had no more than a piece of sugar
or bread to last him the day. His dad was forced to fight alongside
the Nazis and returned home after six years wounded and distant.
"I saw Hitler’s soldiers. I saw swastikas every day. To call Obama
stupid, even criminal — OK, that’s politics. But Hitler? It’s hurting
to anyone no matter who is president," he told the Seattle Times.
Gasparian was arrested and charged with two counts of fourth-degree
assault. His son later bailed him out, saying his dad had never gotten
more than a speeding ticket.
Yesterday he agreed to a deferred sentence. If he stays out of trouble
for a year, the charges will be dismissed. He also paid a $400 fine.
Police aren’t sure what became of the two LaRouche supporters. But
karma dictates that since they were too chickenshit to stand up
to an old man, they’ll be forced into a lifetime of servitude to a
cause filled with conspiracy nuts. A transition they should have no
trouble making.