An editor-at-large at the conservative news site Breitbart has reportedly filed assault charges against an transgender reporter for "Inside Edition" after a heated, on-air discussion about Caitlyn Jenner.
Breitbart's Ben Shapiro described transgender people as having a mental illness and being delusional during a segment on "The Dr. Drew Show," which focused on Jenner's recent Arthur Ashe Courage Award honor at the 2015 ESPY Awards. He also used male pronouns while referring to "Inside Edition"'s Zoey Tur, who identifies as transgender, during the July 17 appearance. (You can view footage of that appearance in the video above.)
At one point in the debate, Shapiro asked a visibly agitated Tur, "What are your genetics, sir?" Tur responded by putting her hand on the back of Shapiro's neck, noting, "You cut that out now, or you’ll go home in an ambulance."
She later dismissed Shapiro as "a little man, a little boy," and added, "You’re consumed with hatred."
Shapiro has now accused Tur of physically threatening him once the cameras stopped rolling, prompting him to file a police report on July 19, according to The Blaze. He also claims that security escorted him to his car only after they determined that Tur had left the premises.
"Just because the left has designated someone a member of the victim class does not mean that that person gets to infringe the rights of others,” he told his website of his decision to file a police report. Noting that he had spoken with a Los Angeles Police Department detective, he added, "Until the left learns that, their aggression will not stop."
In a separate article, Breitbart also pointed to Tur's apparent response to a tweet that called for Shapiro to be "curb-stomped." Breitbart's John Nolte hinted that the threat was anti-Semitic as curb-stomping was "made infamous by American Nazi skinheads," and Shapiro is Jewish.
Meanwhile, Tur has denied Shapiro's accusations, telling Salon in an email that the only conversation she and Shapiro had "was on camera. I left the studio for home before he was off the set. CNN can confirm that."
She also brushed off the anti-Semitic claim, noting that she is also Jewish, and wrote, "How can a Jewish woman that performed a tracheotomy on an IDF soldier during war be a neo-Nazi?"
