UT POLICE REPORT CITES BELLIGERENCE

If you are not familiar with Rep. Stacy Campfield (R-Knoxville), you’re definitely missing out on one of the rising stars/spectacles of the Tennessee GOP. Campfield spends his time on the Tennessee House floor fighting conservative battles such as calling the black caucus more racist than the KKK (while trying to join), issuing state death certificates for aborted fetuses, and getting guns onto school campuses . Republican leaders just love him, so he’s decided to run for State Senate.

Being such a celebrity among Republicans can be a heavy burden, though. Mr. Campfield gets very tired of having his clothes ripped off his body by throngs of adoring fans, so he decided to wear a brightly-colored leather mexican wrestling mask to the UT game to hide his identity and fit right in. The problem is, masks are not allowed in Neyland stadium, and when Campfield was told to remove it he refused and tried to evade campus police. They were not amused:

According to a report by UT Police Lt. Dana McReynolds, the Knoxville Republican was wearing a “Luchador’s (Mexican wrestler’s) full head mask” during the game against South Carolina despite publicity before and during the game that Halloween masks were not allowed inside Neyland Stadium.

“I told him masks were not allowed in the stadium and told him he would have to take it off,” McReynolds wrote. “He asked why and I again told him that masks were not allowed and he could either give the mask to me or take it off and put it away. Before I could finish my sentence he took off the mask and asked if he could keep it. I told him ‘yes’ and thanked him for complying.”

The officer noted that Campfield then re-entered the stadium area but went a different direction than his original seat.

“Curious about this odd behavior and concerned that he had misunderstood our interaction, I caught up with him in front of the concession stand in Section D,” McReynolds wrote. “I … began to tell him that I was not asking him to leave the section, just to take off his mask. Again … he interrupted and said, ‘I was just taking a walk. Is it illegal to walk around?’ I told him ‘no,’ and was surprised by his sudden confrontational attitude. … He again asked if walking around was illegal. I told him ‘no’ and again began to explain that he did not have to leave his seat, just take off the mask. He continued to ask if walking around was illegal. … Thinking that something was not right (he kept saying the same phrase over and over, would not make eye contact and kept shifting on his feet, left to right) I asked to see his ticket.”

When Campfield gave the officer his ticket, it was for Section LL, not Section B.

According to the report, the officer asked Campfield why he had not said he was going to his correct seat, and he said again, “I told you I was walking around. Is it illegal to walk around?”

“After five or six attempts at explaining this to him, I told the man I was not going to play word … games with him,” the officer wrote. “He had violated the mask policy, was in the wrong section and was being argumentative and uncooperative.”

“While walking to the exit, he kept repeating over and over that he was just walking around and when did it become illegal to walk around,” McReynolds wrote.

UPDATE: Christian Grantham has a video compilation