Readers react to Marine's attack on Greek priest

[Jason Ludwig shot this photo from his Channelside balcony as the priest was loaded into an ambulance.]

Audio: Accused Marine tells Bubba the Love Sponge he's not gay

Nov. 12 update: Accused Marine tells his side to Bubba the Love Sponge

Nov. 11 update: Tow-truck driver says Marine attacked him, too

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Nov. 10 -- Today's story on the Marine reservist who allegedly beat and chased a Greek priest he thought was an Arab terrorist quickly became our most popular story and one of the most discussed on tampabay.com.

The priest, who is visiting from Crete, Greece, was lost in Tampa and stopped in a parking lot. He asked Jasen D. Bruce for help, but instead Bruce struck the priest on the head with a tire iron.

Bruce, shown on right with his lawyer Jeff Brown, then chased the priest for three blocks to the Madison Avenue and Meridian Avenue, police said, and even called 911 to say that an Arabic man tried to rob him. Police arrested Bruce on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and are investigating whether he committed a hate crime.

Readers are expressing outrage over Bruce's actions:

"Way to go for hunting down those terrorists!" VacantSea wrote.

Moshekatan wrote simply: "God (Help) Bless America!"

"Idiot. In Greece, they have been fighting Muslim extremism longer than the Marines have existed!" wrote Mike Norris on tampabay.com's Facebook fan page.

Several other Web sites have picked up the story, adding their own twist to the headlines:

DailyKos: I Fear More Of This To Come

Talking Points Memo: Really, What Can You Say?

HuffingtonPost: Greek Orthodox Priest Attacked By Marine Reservist In Fit Of Anti-Muslim Hysteria

Fark: Marine reservist attacks Greek Orthodox priest with a tire iron, then calls police to brag he's caught a terrorist

Think Progress: Marine reservist chases, assaults Greek Orthodox priest whom he mistook for an Arab terrorist

What's your take? Register to comment and have your say.

She's a news junkie and a tampabay.com Facebook fan

[Liisa Hyvarinen Temple with her husband Air Force SMSgt Rex Temple on their honeymoon in Arizona.]

Let's Talk's Reader Profiles offer snapshots of tampabay.com readers, a look at the faces & personalities behind some of our loyal readers and Facebook fans.

Today we introduce you to Liisa Hyvarinen Temple, an avid follower of tampabay.com's The Buzz and The Feed blogs. Temple played along with our Q&A, sharing her thoughts on her favorite Web sites, fabulous Florida getaways and how she'd spend $1 million (first, a new house).

Where you live: Tampa.

Profession: Journalism professor at University of South Florida.

Five must-visit sites in the morning: When school is in session: tampabay.com, tbo.com, HeraldTribune,com, LakelandLedger.com, FloridaFocus (USF student newscast) and afghanistanmylasttour.com (her husband's blog).

When not teaching: tampabay.com, WashingtonPost.com, NewYorkTimes.com, MiamiHerald.com and afghanistanmylasttour.com

Favorite sections on tampabay.com: The Buzz and The Feed.

Q&A with Gradebook fan Drew Smith

Let's Talk reader profiles offer snapshots of tampabay.com readers, giving others a chance to glimpse who's behind a username on blog comments. Today, we introduce Drew Smith, a genealogy buff and follower of  The Gradebook. A University of South Florida librarian, Smith visits tampabay.com's schools blog regularly to see what education issues are making headlines in the Tampa Bay area and statewide.

Smith was kind enough to share his favorite Florida getaway, what he's reading, how he'd spend $1 million and more:

Username: Drew Smith.

Where you live: Citrus Park/Keystone area.

Profession: Academic librarian.

5 sites you visit each morning: Google Reader (to catch up on blogs), Google News, tampabay.com, Facebook, and that other local news site.

Fave section on tampabay.com: Homepage and The Gradebook blog.

Melissa Baldwin, a longtime Fueling Station follower

Let's Talk's Reader Profiles offer a snapshot of tampabay.com readers, a chance for you to see who lurks behind comments on our blogs. Today we get to know a bit about Melissa Meehan Baldwin, who often has something to say on the Fueling Station, tampabay.com's energy & environment blog. Baldwin says she's been following the blog since it launched nearly three years ago.

Username: Melissa Meehan Baldwin

Where you live: Riverview

Profession: Public relations executive at the Environmental PR Group

5 Web sites you visit each morning:  SayfieReview, The Fueling Station, tampabay.com, Facebook, GoogleNews

Meet Michael Reynolds, a Bucs Beat follower

Ever wonder who lurks behind witty or insightful comments on tampabay.com's blogs? Let's Talk's reader profiles let you get to know a bit more about tampabay.com readers. Here, we introduce you to Michael Reynolds, a follower of tampabay.com's Buccaneers blog, Bucs Beat:

Username: G. Michael Reynolds

Where you live: Winter Park

Profession: Student of Chinese Medicine (graduating in June!)

5 Web sites you visit each morning: Bucs Beat, espn.com, bucs.tbo.com, cnnsi.com, Pat Yasinskas' blog on ESPN.com. As you can see, I have a football problem.

Favorite tampabay.com blog: Bucs Beat

Reader Profile: Denis Baldwin, fan of Bizarre Florida

Let's Talk's reader profiles offer a snapshot of the faces and personalities of tampabay.com readers.  This week we introduce you to Denis Baldwin, a frequent contributor to tampabay.com's Bizarre Florida blog.

Username: Denis Baldwin

Where you live: Ybor Heights. Just far enough to avoid the social dysfunction of Ybor City while still being able to contribute to the chaos.

Profession: Marketing guy, IT geek, contributor to MyTampaLife.com.

5 Web sites you visit each morning: TampaBLAB , MyTampaLife.com, Google Calendar, TampaBayMiatas and Google.

Favorite section/blog on tampabay.com: Bizarre Florida

Dream vacation: Depends on what you mean by "vacation." I'd be just at home doing high speed runs across the Bonneville Salt Flats as I would soaking up chair space at a hole in the wall in New Orleans.

Reader profile: Andrea Lypka

Let's Talk's reader profiles offer a glimpse into tampabay.com readers beyond their usernames or recent comments. This week, we introduce you to Andrea Lypka, a multimedia journalist studying at University of South Florida St. Petersburg:

Where you live: St Petersburg

Profession:  Multimedia Journalist

5 Web sites you visit each morn: http://www.nytimes.com/, http://www.niemanlab.org/, poynter.org, http://www.poyi.org/, http://canyonwolfephoto.com/

Favorite vacation spot: Hungary.

iPod playlist: You don't want to know...The Aurora Forum at Stanford University, Chris Baxter: Quantitative Research Methods, Citizen Media Law podcast, Lawyer2Lawyer. Pretty sad.

Lauren Burg: a die-hard Lightning fan

[Lauren Burg with Lightning center Vincent Lecavalier during a Meet & Greet with Lecavalier.]

Let's Talk offers a snapshot of the faces behind usernames in our weekly tampabay.com Reader Profile. This week we spotlight Lauren Burg, a big fan of tampabay.com's Lightning section.

Where you live: St. Petersburg.

Profession: College Student at the University of South Florida St Petersburg.

Favorite section on tampabay.com: Sports & definitely the Tampa Bay Lightning section most!

5 sites I visit in the morning: Facebook.com, AOL.com, St Pete Times Lightning section, stpt.usf.edu to check school stuff and lightning.nhl.com.

All-time favorite movies: Miracle, Ice Princess, Chasing Liberty, She's The Man, Remember the Titans, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Marley & Me

Tampabay.com Reader Profile: Sherrie Williams

[Sherrie Williams with Pop Life blogger Sean Daly last October]

Let's Talk introduces a new feature to give tampabay.com readers a chance to get to know each other. Tampabay.com Reader Profiles will reveal the faces behind usernames and the personalities behind insightful, or maybe snarky, comments.

Today we introduce Sherrie Williams, an avid fan of Stuck in the 80s and Pop Life.

Username: Sherrie

Where you live: Largo.

Profession: School librarian and book reviewer for a national librarian's magazine,

Favorite section of tampabay.com: I visit the Stuck in the 80s blog the most, but the Pop Life blog is a very close second.

5 sites you visit in the morn:  Plurk.com, Facebook.com, Stuck in the 80s, Good Reads, MeatLoaf.net (singer Meat Loaf's official site)

All-time fave movies: The American President, Psycho, Lost in Translation