$500,000 bail set for man who drove car at Rep. Harris
By Associated Press
Published October 29, 2004
SARASOTA - A man who faces an assault charge for driving his car at U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris and her supporters as they campaigned on a local street was being held on $500,000 bail Thursday.
If he posts bail, Barry M. Seltzer, 46, was told, he will be monitored electronically and will not be allowed to go near Harris.
Seltzer faces a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a felony. He could also face a federal charge.
Seltzer told police he was exercising his "political expression" when he veered his silver Cadillac onto a sidewalk and drove toward Harris and a group of her re-election campaign supporters Tuesday evening as they stood at a busy intersection near downtown.
At the last moment, Seltzer steered away from the group and drove off. No one was injured.
Harris, a Sarasota Republican nationally known for her role in the 2000 presidential election, told police she feared for her life. The congresswoman mentioned the incident Thursday at a rally featuring first lady Laura Bush. Harris held up a picture of Seltzer's car parked at his home with a sign supporting Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry posted in his yard.
"Here's the Kerry sign; here's his medium of free speech," Harris said, pointing at the car.
She drew cheers from the crowd of more than 1,000 when she asked if they had been intimidated and harassed because of their support for Bush.
Seltzer is a registered Democrat and a self-employed real estate investor. Jo Turner, campaign manager for Harris' opponent, Jan Schneider, said Wednesday no one in the campaign knows Seltzer.
Seltzer, who turned himself in to Sarasota police Wednesday after hearing they had traced the car's license plate to him, said he was bothered by slow traffic on the street and wanted to intimidate the campaigners, a police report said.
"I did not run them down, I scared them a little," the report quoted him as telling an officer.
Harris was elected to Congress in 2002 after serving as Florida's secretary of state during the 2000 presidential recount that gave Florida and the presidency to Bush by 537 votes.
