[FL] Mayor Ritter's father points gun at her chest, then her head - She just wants him to be okay

...[Ed] Portner, charged with armed burglary and aggravated assault, has been in jail since his arrest Tuesday night, in part because judges keep recusing themselves from the highly political case... "I hope the judge lets him out because I don't think my dad belongs in jail," [Broward County Mayor Stacy] Ritter said... Ritter said she will ask prosecutors to resolve the criminal charges without any more jail time for her father...

MAYOR RITTER TO FATHER: "YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ME"
browardpalmbeach.com
By Bob Norman
Fri., Oct. 9 2009 @ 9:43AM
[Excerpts] Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter was literally being backed into a corner in her Parkland home, afraid for her life. Her 84-year-old father, Ed Portner, angry and distraught because she supported his opponent in the Tamarac mayoral race, was threatening her with a gun... She said she didn't support her father's run against Tamarac Mayor Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco, whom she endorsed before he entered the race, because she sensed his mind was going a bit with old age... She says she's most concerned about her father right now. Portner, charged with armed burglary and aggravated assault, has been in jail since his arrest Tuesday night, in part because judges keep recusing themselves from the highly political case. He was scheduled for a hearing this morning. "I hope the judge lets him out because I don't think my dad belongs in jail," Ritter said. "Partly because he takes care of my mom. She's 81, she broke both hips last year and she's half-blind she's half deaf. Me and my sister we do what we do, but he's really her lifeline." Her parents have been married for 62 years. She says that her mother had asked to be alone since her husband's arrest. She says all she wants is for her father to get treatment and heal the family. "He is in such great health that I think that with the right help he will get through whatever he's going through," she said. "This doesn't seem to be unusual when people get older. They get angry and bitter and do things they've never done before that are completely out of character. My dad has always had a hot temper, but he's never been physically violent, ever. I think there's going to be some plan of treatment that will be required by the court. He just needs treatment. He needs someone to talk to." [LINK]

'HE POINTED THE GUN AT MY FOREHEAD' Broward mayor tells of confrontation with father
South Florida Sun Sentinel
By Lisa J. Huriash and Peter Franceschina
October 9, 2009
[Excerpts] FORT LAUDERDALE - As Broward Mayor Stacy Ritter's father sat in shackles Friday waiting for a judge to decide if he would be freed on bail on charges of holding his daughter at gunpoint, Ritter described in an interview with the Sun Sentinel the bizarre confrontation and the fear she felt that night... Ritter glanced through a window, saw it was her 84-year-old father, Ed Portner, and opened the front door. Portner -- a former longtime Tamarac city commissioner who is now running for mayor of the city - was angry over her endorsement of his opponent, the incumbent mayor, Ritter said. "I saw it was my Dad, and I know I must have had a real quizzical look on my face because I hadn't seen him in five months," Ritter recalled. "He pulled up his shirt. There was a gun in his waistband. He pulled it out and pointed it at my chest and said, ‘We need to talk.'" As Ritter backed into her office, her father advanced. "Dad, you're going to kill me," Ritter told him... "I grabbed his hand with the gun. Foolishly, I tried to wrestle him. He was stronger than I was, and I knew I wasn't going to get the gun away from him," Ritter said. "He pointed the gun at my forehead. When he did that, I thought he was really going to kill me because I made him really angry." She agreed to talk but told him she wanted to get a drink of water from the kitchen. Portner told her not to try to call anyone. Ritter dashed through a laundry room to the garage, hit the garage door opener and ducked under the door. She took off running... Portner was arrested later at his Tamarac residence and remained jailed without bond until Friday, on charges of armed burglary and aggravated assault... Upon hearing the news, his wife of 61 years, Helen, began cooking spaghetti and meat dishes -- his favorite foods... Ritter said she will ask prosecutors to resolve the criminal charges without any more jail time for her father. "I don't want my father going back to jail, ever," she said. "So whatever we have to do to make sure my father doesn't go back to jail is what I want"... [Full article here]
[public official, domestic violence, abuse, lethal, florida state]