Video: Weiner Resigns At Press Conference, Heckler Denies Chance At Dignified Departure

Hecklers shouted “Pervert!” and demanded detailed information about Congressman Anthony Weiner’s genitals at this afternoon press conference, in which the beleaguered pol resigned, barring any chance of allowing a man with 26 years of public service in his wake to end the most embarrassing chapter with a modicum of dignity.

The most vocal of the hecklers was The Howard Stern Show‘s Benjy Bronk, who stood up in the middle of Weiner’s statement and demanded to know if the congressman was “fully erect” in the now infamous photos mistakenly posted to Twitter, and also demanded to know the length of his penis. Members of the press bristled at Bronk’s antics and later blamed him for spurring the congressman to leave the conference without taking questions, and police ultimately removed Bronk from the Midwood senior center where Weiner delivered his statement. Bronk’s attacks were an encore; he shouted similar comments during Weiner’s confessional press conference earlier this month.

A member of an unidentified publication also shouted “Yeah! Bye bye, pervert!” when Weiner said he was stepping down.

Not all those who yelled at Weiner were hecklers, though. A few of a the senior center’s residents sat in attendance, commenting to each other that it was a shame he was to resign. One shouted, “We still love you!”

Twenty years earlier, in the very same spot he chose to deliver his statement – the Council Center For Senior Citizens (1001 Quentin Road) – Weiner launched his career as an elected official by announcing his candidacy for City Council.

Ultimately, Weiner said he had hoped to stay in office and weather the media storm that followed his accidental publication of his groin on Twitter, exposing a habit of inappropriately contacting women online. But he said the scandal had caused too much of a distraction to serve his constituents.

“I’m here today to again apologize for th personal mistakes I have made and the embarassment I have caused,” he said. “I’d hoped to be able to continue the work that the citizens of my district elected me to do – to fight for the middle class and those struggling to make it. Unfortunately the distraction that I have created has made that impossible.”