CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WINA) – Jason Kessler, the Charlottesville blogger who sought signatures to oust Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy, has pleaded guilty to punching a man who asked about his petition when Kessler took his campaign to the Downtown Mall on January 22.
Kessler and James Justin Taylor, the man Kessler admitted to hitting in the face, told very different stories about what happened after Thursday’s plea in Charlottesville General District Court.
According a charge Kessler filed against Taylor, the punch was an act of self-defense after Taylor violently grabbed the petition from Kessler’s arm. Kessler accused Taylor of then punching him, but that charge was dismissed after the prosecution viewed a video showing no second punch.
Taylor says Kessler handed him the petition when he asked to look at it, after which he told Kessler he didn’t like what he was doing and hurled an expletive. But Taylor says at no time did he approach Kessler in a violent manner, nor did he know a second person who saw the attack who Kessler also accuses of acting in a threatening manner.
Kessler will return to court for sentencing on April 27.
