Preacher Who Tells Women They ‘Deserve Rape’ Gets Hit In the Head With Baseball Bat [Graphic Video]

A notoriously anti-gay street preacher named “Brother” Dean Saxton finally provoked a passerby to the point of nearly-deadly violence. Earlier this month, Saxton was standing outside an Arizona high school preaching an extreme version of Christianity and carrying a sign that read “You Deserve Rape.” This was offensive enough to 19-year-old Tabitha Brubaker that she decided to intervene — by hitting him over the head with a baseball bat.

The story was reported by local news ABC 15, but you can also see the entire event play out in Brother Dean Saxton’s own YouTube video at the top of the page (Warning: Graphic Content). The violent encounter takes place around the 17-minute mark. The preacher is distracted by a heated argument with a male pedestrian when Brubaker approaches with a baseball bat and strikes him across the head. You can’t see the attack take place, but you can hear the sickening smack of the metal against the street preacher’s head.

Following an eruption of gasps from onlookers, there’s a roar of applause as everyone realizes what happened. You can then see Brother Dean Saxton walking away from the crowd, showing blood dripping down his face and onto his shirt.

If you think the gay community accepts & tolerates others just wait till they hit you over the head with a metal bat pic.twitter.com/JfknyjWwqg

— Brother Dean (@brodeanIV) May 25, 2016

While the video doesn’t show the face of the street preacher’s attacker, police did arrest Tabitha Brubaker for felony assault, as well as possession of marijuana, according to Raw Story.

Despite the illegality of the attack, the vast majority of internet users have commended the violent actions of Brubaker, commenting that the preacher had it coming.

“Best thing I’ve seen all day. If only they had hit him a couple more times,” said one comment.

“I believe there are certain qualities that may be worthy of a a** whipping,” said another. “If a man acts like a bigoted douche-nozzle and says women deserve to be raped, then I would say that he is partially responsible for the beating he was just handed.”

Brother Dean Saxton has a reputation among both local students and internet users for his radical religious opposition to homosexuality.

“The Bible says it’s not okay to be gay,” Saxon says before the baseball bat attack. “You need to stop doing naughty, nasty things, Apollo High School. You need to stop looking up naughty, nasty things on the internet!”

There are countless videos of the street preacher across YouTube, showing him shouting into a megaphone threats of hell to anyone who isn’t a “true Christian.” On top of that, Brother Dean most notoriously tells women they deserve to be raped for their sins and spiritual failings. According to Vice, the street preacher also claims women are to blame if they get raped while dressing “provocatively.”

pic.twitter.com/EoX16QWE3e

— Brother Dean (@brodeanIV) September 4, 2015

These brazen claims are what tend to get the street preacher in the most trouble. And while he admits he’s confronted a lot and criticized by many people, this may be the first time that Saxton’s views nearly got him killed.

There were still a handful of people in the comments of the original video that rush to defend the street preacher, noting that nobody should be violently attacked with a deadly weapon simply for what they say, no matter how abhorrent it is. Others even claim to agree with Brother Dean’s views against homosexuality and women “deserving rape.”

But some of the harshest critics of the street preacher are other Christians. Before Brother Dean gets hit with the baseball bat in the video, people identifying as Christian are some of the first to approach him in disagreement.

“I think you’re a disgrace to Christianity. Why don’t you go and preach it to somebody who really wants to hear your message, like Westboro Baptist Church?”

What do you think? Was the street preacher asking to be hit in the head with a baseball bat for telling women they deserve rape? Or did he have a right to say whatever he wants?

[Photo via YouTube]