Car with Obama sticker rammed by Tenn. man

[March 31, 2010]  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A 70-year-old Nashville man was accused of ramming his sport utility vehicle several times into the back of a vehicle that had a Obama/Biden bumper sticker.

Harry K. Weisiger, a retiree, made obscene gestures and pointed at the campaign sticker for President Barack Obama and running mate Joe Biden before he smashed into schoolteacher Mark Duren's car, police said. Weisiger has been charged with reckless endangerment, leaving the scene of the accident and refusing to take a field sobriety test.

The incident appears to be among the overheated partisan political atmosphere, including death threats sent to members of Congress and their families who supported health care reform.

Duren had picked up his 10-year-old daughter from school Thursday when he stopped near the Belmont University campus. An SUV pulled up behind his Toyota Camry and the driver began honking and gesturing angrily toward the bumper sticker, The Tennessean reported.

"I raised my hands palms up and shrugged. He then eased up behind my car so I could only see the grille of his SUV and blew his car horn, nonstop," Duren told the newspaper.

As Duren drove home, the SUV's driver continued making gestures and pointing at the sticker, according to a police report.

The driver, identified by Nashville police as Weisiger, accelerated and crashed into the bumper, directly over the sticker.

Duren tried to calm his frightened daughter as he stopped and Weisiger rammed it again, trying to push it off the road, police said. After a few more pushes, the SUV sped away and Duren called 911.

A neighbor followed the SUV to a grocery store, where police said they found Weisiger trying to pop a breath mint and insisting that he had "not much" to drink.

Weisiger's acquaintances described him as a responsible businessman and a father of four with no history of violent behavior.

"He was just a loyal employee, with no previous incidents of any sort like the one being described," said Patrick Parker, spokesman for Hardaway Construction Corp., where Weisiger worked for 25 years before retiring in 2008. "You never know, I guess."

Calls to his home by The Associated Press went unreturned Sunday.

Duren hasn't decided whether to replace the sticker.

"The anger is bleeding from political discussions into other aspects of society," he said. "I'd like to tell people, look, we can discuss things we disagree about. You don't have to bash someone's car because you disagree with what's on a bumper sticker."

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Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com/

[Associated Press]

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