By Guy Page
A 20 year-old-college student was ordered held without bail in Vermont criminal court Tuesday following what police say was a home invasion and assault with a deadly weapon on video journalist Hank “Planet Hank” Poitras of Brattleboro.
Julien Lemert, a Keene State College student and New York resident, was held without bail, at least until a future hearing, after pleading innocent in Vermont Superior Court (Windham County) on three felony charges: aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, grand larceny and charges related to unlawful mischief.
As reported by VDC yesterday, Poitras on May 19 posted a video of police arresting Lemert in early May on charges of assaulting a woman. In the video, Lemert can be seen glaring into the camera (held by Poitras) and asking why he’s filming. Saturday, June 20, Lemert reportedly came to the controversial police news videographer’s Brattleboro home, threatened to assault him, threw a large rock at his door, and then charged through the door and attacked Poitras, who is 43, a Marine vet, and a longtime practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
The two scuffled. Lemert pulled a knife. Poitras was able to restrain the larger, young er man and then separate himself from the suspect until police arrived, Poitras told VDC Monday. Poitras told VDC that the incident was clearly motivated by a desire for retribution for filming the May arrest. Planet Hank’s video of the incident appears below.
“So this one hits pretty close to home, because I am the victim of this assault,” Poitras says in the video.
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There is sometimes ridicule and accusations of “misinformation” placed on these freelance journalists, but in the age of the internet and media consolidation, thank goodness for their efforts at getting out info that the deep state-controlled mainstream media decides you shouldn’t know about. News and information is a large buffet, and we should be free to pick and choose what we consume. So, unless the investigator/journalist crosses the line into harassment, stalking, libel, defamation or slander, it’s First Amendment protected free expression. Any physical attacks or threats thereof, especially as we have seen from antifa-types should be treated very seriously. The radical left has done a thorough job of defining information that is antithetical to their agenda as “hate speech” and “misinformation” and supports the notion that it is somehow illegal to disseminate. The radical left has also laid out a pathological permission structure for promoting violence and intimidation against all who oppose them in words and actions.
God bless you and keep you, Hank.