North Carolina ? A Democratic congressman apologized Monday after video posted online showed him swatting at the camera, demanding that two men taping him identify themselves and grabbing one of them by the wrist and neck.

“I deeply and profoundly regret my reaction and I apologize to all involved,” Rep. Bob Etheridge of North Carolina said in a statement. “No matter how intrusive and partisan our politics can become, this does not justify a poor response.”

The video was posted on websites owned by Andrew Breitbart, the conservative Web entrepreneur who also released video of workers for the community organizing group ACORN counseling actors posing as a pimp and prostitute.