This unsavory, violent story has been developing for a few days now.
This behavior is simply unacceptable and illegal. Several names surface here–Lauren Valle of Moveon.org was the victim. Tim Profitt, Bourbon County campaign coordinator (for Paul) has admitted to being the head stomper. Mike Pezzano of Frankfort, Kentucky was allegedly the man who threw Valle to the ground.
I had intended on just posted a 1 minute clip of what happened. It seems that those clips have been removed by youtube.com. That usually happens when a complaint has been filed.
Profitt issued the following statement:
“I’m sorry that it came to that, and I apologize if it appeared overly forceful, but I was concerned about Rand’s safety,” Tim Profitt told The Associated Press.
The Paul campaign has issued a series of statements, the latest being:
“The Paul for Senate campaign is extremely disappointed in, and condemns the actions of a supporter last night outside the KET debate. Whatever the perceived provocation, any level of aggression or violence is deplorable, and will not be tolerated by our campaign. The Paul campaign has disassociated itself from the volunteer who took part in this incident, and once again urges all activists — on both sides — to remember that their political passions should never manifest themselves in physical altercations of any kind.”
Hopefully, this violent incident will serve as a notice to all involved in the political process that thug behavior is totally and unequivocally unacceptable. Mr. Profitt and Mr. Pezzano need to be dealt with by the legal system. Ms. Valle needs to do what she needs to do. There are times when throwing an individual posing a threat to a candidate might be acceptable–this is NOT one of those times. There would never be a time when stomping someone’s head or back of the neck would be acceptable.
The Gadsden Flag, “Don’t Tread on Me,” which used to be one of my favorite historical flags, has suddenly taken on a new and much more literal meaning. It doesn’t matter which ‘side’ any of the players were on or who was supporting whom. Its an example of bad behavior–behavior that we, as Americans, disdain.
