A video was posted on the internet last Thursday of a man who spit in the face of Grand Junction-based progressive influencer Dean Withers at the Grand Junction Regional Airport as Withers was returning home from a trip. Withers is a well known progressive political commentator who has over 3.1 million followers on Instagram.
Withers’ mother was picking Withers up at the airport when the man spat on him in the pickup/drop off area in front of the terminal. Withers immediately took out his phone and started recording the incident. Withers asked the man on video if he just spit on him, and the man admitted to the assault while his wife argued “I don’t think spitting is a crime.” Withers got a clear record of the spitter’s face, his wife and his license plate on the video.
Spitting on someone is considered an intentional act of offensive conduct in Colorado and is illegal. It is chargeable as a misdemeanor battery when done with intent to harass, provoke or alarm another person.
Shortly after the video was posted, the man who assaulted Withers was identified as G.J. resident Shane McDougal.
McDougal was subsequently arrested (pdf) and charged with harassment:
