Mayor assaulted by angry fluoride-hater

A 44-year-old female has been arrested for allegedly assaulting Jenny Dowell, the Mayor of Lismore in New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday. The women, angry about fluoridation of Lismore's water supply, kicked the door of a car that the Mayor was getting into at about 3pm. The door then hit the Mayor in the head causing soft tissue damage.

After the incident she said: "A woman wanted to speak to me for 5 mins about fluoride. I sat with her but for the first minute she just accused me of not listening (I was silent). I stood up and said I was going - she then followed me and harangued me up the street to my car then slammed the door against my head as I got into it. She shouted that I am a 'f*cking bitch', gave me the finger and left. I now have a sore ear and cheek - and I'm shaken.



"My ear's still store and red, but it'll be right. I'll be fine," she added. The Mayor reported the incident to police, who made an arrest a short time later. The woman will appear in court on August 3 charged with common assault, Inspector Nicole Bruce, of Lismore Police, said. While the mayor stressed the alleged assault was an "isolated incident", she did recount numerous verbal attacks from people who were anti-fluoride over the last two years.

"I've been called Genocide Jenny, I've been called Hitler … that's happened on more than a dozen occasions by different people," Cr Dowell said. When people got into public office some people "no longer saw them as a person" or worthy of normal, decent behaviour, she said. The decision by Lismore City Council to fluoridate its water supply has sparked angry outbursts in the past, with shouting and aggression on display during the council meeting last December last year after councillors narrowly voted to proceed with fluoridation. The Mayor has remained an outspoken supporter of fluoridation.