Candidate Pepper Sprays Himself in Gun Control Ad

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.