A Massachusetts
state senator used foul language in a talk to high school
students in his Wrentham district but defended himself by
saying he was just repeating what some students wrote
about him on a Web site. Sen. Scott Brown was
discussing his stance on same-sex marriage during an
assembly at King Philip Regional High School on Thursday
when he decided to share the comments written about
him and his family posted on a Facebook.com page
dedicated to a pro-gay rights history teacher at the
school.
Brown, a
Republican from Wrentham, opposes same-sex marriage.
"I hate scott
brown" and "scott brown ascends from the underworld"
were two of the tamer comments on the site. Others
contained profanities. Some of the comments were aimed at
Brown's daughter, Ayla Brown, a former American
Idol finalist.
He read the
comments verbatim, even naming the students who wrote them
in some cases, witnesses said.
"He was doing it
loudly and pretty angrily," student Rachel William
told WHDH-TV. "Some of the teachers tried to stop him and
said things like, 'You shouldn't be naming students.' "
Student Stephen
Small said, "Some teachers immediately were outraged
to hear the language that was used...some people still feel
it was inappropriate to read them word for word."
Brown defended
himself. "What I was doing was reading from what they
had written about me and about my family," Brown said. "I
actually called them on it. I said, 'Now there's hate
speech, and then there's respectful proper speech.' "
The mother of the
student who created the site told the station that she
thought Brown acted inappropriately. The school's
administration declined to comment. (AP)