Beverly Hills Paper Accuses Anti-Rove Protester Of Assault, Paints Her As Un-American

In one headline, we described this week's aborted Karl Rove appearance in Beverly Hills this way: "War-Monger Karl Rove Runs Away From Girls." The Beverly Hills Courier newspaper had what can only be described as an opposite take on the events of Monday night at the Saban Theatre in which the Republican George W. Bush official cut a speaking engagement short after he was rushed by protesters.

According to the paper a woman "assaulted former White House Senior Advisor Karl Rove as he attempted to answer audience questions Monday night at a book signing event attended by nearly 100 Beverly Hills residents ... " (We're going to assume here that there might have been a few souls there from outside the gilded city).

The report goes on to tie the alleged assaulter in question, Code Pink cofounder Jodie Evans, to Jerry Brown, who's running for governor in California as a Democrat.

The paper states that Evans served in Brown's administration during his first stint as governor in the 1970s and notes that " ... she ran Brown's 1991 unsuccessful presidential campaign which was lampooned by the 'Doonesbury' cartoon series featuring Brown as 'Gov. Moonbeam.'"

It quotes far-right (and arguably racist) website Front Page Magazine on Evans, which once wrote that she is "imbued with a deep hatred for the United States."

A Beverly Hills resident told the Courier, "This is not how we act in Beverly Hills."

The Beverly Hills City Council seems fairly liberal (the last mayor spoke out against anti-gay comments by a woman claiming to be Miss Beverly Hills), so "we" is a matter of debate.

Evans, meanwhile, was neither arrested nor charged on suspicion of assault (and therefore could question whether the paper has libeled her), and television footage of the incident did not appear to depict any such action. Rove did not appear to be injured. She did confront Rove, handcuffs in hand, and state, "Look what you did -- you outed a CIA officer" -- referring to Valerie Plame.

"You lied to take us to war," she said, referring to the Bush administration's argument for invading Iraq. "You ruined a country."

Un-American comments? You decide ...