Gasparian says he got emotional at the sight of Obama being compared to a man who killed much of his family.As a kid growing up in war-ravaged Armenia, Henry Gasparian lost two uncles and his brother in Nazi Germany’s occupation of the Soviet Union. It’s understandable, then, that he might get peeved when someone compares President Barack Obama to Hitler, the man who’s personally responsible for the death of three of his relatives.Back in September, the 71-year-old Gasparian was walking in to the Edmonds Farmers Market when he saw two supporters of perennial presidential candidate and all-around kook Lyndon LaRouche displaying a poster of Obama with a Hitler ‘stache. Gasparian says he tried to grab the fliers they were handing out. The LaRouchies told police he repeatedly pushed them and grabbed one of their arms.As a kid, Gasparian said he often had no more than a piece of sugar or bread to last him the day. His dad was forced to fight alongside the Nazis and returned home after six years wounded and distant.”I saw Hitler’s soldiers. I saw swastikas every day. To call Obama stupid, even criminal — OK, that’s politics. But Hitler? It’s hurting to anyone no matter who is president,” he told the Seattle Times.Gasparian was arrested and charged with two counts of fourth-degree assault. His son later bailed him out, saying his dad had never gotten more than a speeding ticket.Yesterday he agreed to a deferred sentence. If he stays out of trouble for a year, the charges will be dismissed. He also paid a $400 fine.Police aren’t sure what became of the two LaRouche supporters. But karma dictates that since they were too chickenshit to stand up to an old man, they’ll be forced into a lifetime of servitude to a cause filled with conspiracy nuts. A transition they should have no trouble making.
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