David Gurfein was the 2016 Republican candidate for Congress for Long Island where he grew up. Gurfein is a former Marine who served twenty-five years. He was awarded a Bronze Star for heroism. He was the soldier in an iconic photo from the Iraq War. See second photo here. Also to his credit, back in high school he campaigned to change the school mascot from a Confederate rebel to a Revolutionary War rebel after the lynching of Michael Donald. He is now the President of United American Patriots, an organization founded to defend soldiers against war crime charges including one convicted of killing sixteen civilians.
He also has a violent personal past. He was arrested in 2010 for domestic violence, assaulting his ex-girlfriend while visiting his daughter at her home. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor domestic battery charge. The charges were dismissed in 2012 after he completed anger management counselling.
- New York Post: Republican candidate running for Congress has a violent past
- Newsday: David Gurfein charged with misdemeanor domestic battery in 2010
