DENVER (CBS4) — There are plenty of videos on YouTube of people spraying themselves in the face with pepper spray — but most of them aren’t congressional campaign ads. Levi Tillemann, a Democratic candidate for Colorado’s 6th congressional district, on Denver’s east side, did just that. Tillemann’s video has had hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube that he hopes translate into votes. “Trust me. This will stop anyone in their tracks,” Tillemann says just before he sprays a canister of pepper spray in his eyes, leaving a yellow liquid dripping down his face. The painful stunt was a response to proposals to arm educators to defend classrooms in the event of a school shooting. “I’ve had enough of Democrats and Republicans talking past each other on gun control as kids, schools and communities pay the price in blood,” Tilleman wrote on YouTube. “That’s why I’ve worked with my team to develop a plan for active school defense measures. We absolutely need to fix America’s gun problem, but that might take a while. Let’s stop talking and start doing. We can protect students and teachers today.” Tillemann is advocating for “non-lethal self-defense tools” for teachers. He sprayed himself in the face with pepper spray to demonstrate how effectively it can impair a person’s vision — and leave them in agonizing pain. Tillemann says he shot the video to draw attention to his idea of arming teachers with pepper spray, “We had to do something that was kind-of spectacular. We wanted to highlight the efficacy of pepper spray as one of a number of potential non-lethal self-defense tools that we can arm teachers and classrooms with as a last resort.” Tillemann admits he’s gotten a lot of feedback, “We expected all reactions. We’re action people, we’re solution people, we’re doers and if you have a better solution, bring it to us and we’ll make a video on that.” After spraying himself, Tilleman dunks his head in a bucket of soapy solution and uses a garden hose to flush his eyes. “It’s just unbearable, it’s like lava in your eyes,” Tilleman says. The video is titled “This Will Save Lives.” Tillemann says it accomplished his goal, “I think it’s done exactly what we wanted it to do. It sparked a really important conversation.” His opponent Jason Crow has a lot of ideas, “Universal background checks, magazine limitations, closing the gun show loophole…” Crow says the ad – that includes gun statistics scrolling over the video – minimizes the seriousness of school violence, “I think it’s a stunt that distracts from our ability to have meaningful discussion on the issue.” Tillemann is running against Democrat Jason Crow in the June 26 primary. If he wins, he will go on to fight for the seat currently held by Republican Michael Coffman. Shaun Boyd CBS4’s political specialist, contributed to this report. She’s a veteran reporter with more than 25 years of experience. Follow her on Twitter @cbs4shaun.<doc-sep>A Colorado businessman running for Congress agreed to be pepper sprayed in the eyes — to prove to voters that Mace can stop a school shooter. Levi Tillemann, one of two Democrats vying for the chance to unseat GOP Rep. Mike Coffman, took it in the face in a roughly two-minute campaign ad titled “This Will Save Lives” — in which he advocated for arming teachers with pepper spray instead of guns. “I’m calling on Congress to stop talking past each other and try something new,” Tillemann says in the ad. “Empower schools and teachers with non-lethal self-defense tools like this can of pepper spray.” Pepper spray is less costly, can be safely stored and “won’t accidentally kill a kid,” according to Tillemann, a managing partner at tech firm Valence Strategic. “Trust me, this will stop anyone in their tracks,” the candidate says in the clip, as runny yellow liquid jets directly onto his closed eyelids. After getting sprayed, Tillemann immediately dunks his head into a large tub of blue liquid. “This is incredibly painful,” he says. “And now I just can’t see anything.” Tillemann can be seen repeatedly squirting water directly from a hose into his red, puffy eyes, as dramatic music plays. “Talk is cheap. Washington needs doers,” he says. But some Colorado school safety groups aren’t on board with Tillemann’s plan. Ken Toltz, who co-founded the organization Safe Campus Colorado, called the video “a madcap stunt,” according to the Denver Post. “I couldn’t even watch it a second time because it’s reckless and irresponsible to film that kind of stunt and put it on Facebook,” he said, though the clip includes a warning to viewers not to try this at home. It’s not the first time Colorado politicians have gone overboard to make a point. In April, Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne got a tattoo — the “C” from the state flag — to show voters she is serious about her long-shot run for governor. And when Gov. John Hickenlooper was mayor of Denver in 2008, he jumped out of an airplane to get voters to back a tax reform measure. Tillemann will face off against Denver attorney Jason Crow in the June 26 primary.<doc-sep>Levi Tillemann (Levi Tillemann via YouTube) A Colorado congressional candidate has found an eye-catching way of advocating for stricter gun control in his latest campaign ad. In the ad, released last Friday, Democrat Levi Tillemann shows himself being pepper-sprayed. After a few moments of the yellow spray stinging his face, Tillemann plunges his head into buckets of soap and water and uses a hose to wash his eyes. “Empower schools and teachers with non-lethal self-defense tools, like this can of pepper spray,” Tillemann urges in the video. “Pepper spray doesn’t cost much and it can be safely stored in a break glass in case of emergency cabinet. But it’s powerful and won’t accidentally kill a kid.” Advertisement “It’s incredibly painful, now I can’t see anything,” he says as his eyes swell up. “Wow, that’s intense.” President Trump has suggested training teachers to use a firearm in the wake of a string of school shootings that have claimed dozens of lives already in 2018. Critics argue that putting more guns in schools will do less to stop school shooters and more to unintentionally provide potential shooters with guns. “I’ve had enough of Democrats and Republicans talking past each other on gun control as kids, schools, and communities pay the price in blood,” Tillemann says in the ad. The Colorado candidate, a former Obama administration Department of Energy official, supports a ban on assault-style weapons and other gun-control measures such as a ten-day waiting period for potential gun-buyers. Send a tip to the news team at NR.<doc-sep>
A Democratic candidate for Colorado's 6th congressional district on Denver's east side recorded a video in which he blasted himself in the face with pepper spray to promote non-firearm methods of self-defense. Levi Tillemann is a Denver businessman and the former special adviser for policy and international affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy under the Obama administration. Tillemann took on a painful and hyperbolic stunt in order to differentiate himself from Democratic opponent Jason Crow as he seeks to win the June 26 primary and ultimately try to replace the seat currently held by Republican Michael Coffman. Tillemann released a video Friday touting "non-lethal self-defense tools" for teachers in lieu of recent proposals that educators should be given firearms to defend classrooms from school shooters. The two-minute video shows Tillemann dramatically acting out how effective pepper spray is by shooting himself directly in the eyes with the lachrymatory agent typically composed of the inflammatory oil capsaicin, which is derived from the same chemical that makes chili peppers spicy. "Empower schools and teachers with nonlethal self-defense tools, like this can of pepper spray," Tillemann says in the video as he prepares to spray himself in the face. "Pepper spray doesn't cost much, and it can be safely stored in a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency cabinet. But it's powerful and won't accidentally kill a kid...Trust me, this will stop anybody in their tracks." "It's incredibly painful. Now I can't see anything," Tillemann says as he struggles to wash out his eyes with a nearby garden hose and soap. "Wow, that's intense." Tillemann noted to the Independent that video surveillance was released showing a 2014 Seattle Pacific University shooter being disarmed by a man after he was pepper-sprayed. The video also features brief comments from Narae Choi, described as an "immigrant, mother, new citizen," who holds her young child and says, "in just a few years, he'll be in school, and Donald Trump wants to give his teacher a gun?" Kevin Cox, a member of the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education, interjects saying: "More students have been killed in school shootings in 2018 than U.S. troops in combat operations. We need common sense gun control. But that's not enough. There are 310 million guns in the U.S. and millions of assault-style weapons." Tillemann told the Independent he also supports more traditional, mainstream Democratic gun control proposals such as the assault-style weapons ban and forbidding people on no-fly lists from acquiring firearms. He said he also supports a 10-day waiting period for buying a gun and legislation that would require safe storage of household weapons. "What we're doing now and what we've been doing for decades isn't working. And, what this is is an effort to solve a problem and to an idea out there that can work and to start a conversation about using non lethal self defense methods that will save lives," said Tillemann.