Advertisement

Opinion: Rand Paul coordinator Tim Profitt admits to stepping on woman from MoveOn.org before Kentucky debate

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

In shocking video that exemplifies how ugly some of the races have gotten in 2010, a woman in Kentucky is shown being pushed to the ground while a man puts his foot on her and then stomps her.

The victim, Lauren Valle of MoveOn.org, approached Republican nominee for Senate Rand Paul in an attempt to pose for a photo with him holding up a faux award when she was thrown down to the ground by one Paul supporter and then stomped by another.

Advertisement

The violence happened in Lexington before Paul debated his Democrat rival, Jack Conway, Monday night.

One of the men in the video, Tim Profitt, admitted to the Associated Press on Tuesday that he stepped on Valle’s head. Profitt was the Bourbon County coordinator for Paul.

Lexington police said this afternoon that that Profitt was indeed their man. ‘Detectives identified the suspect involved in the assault as Tim Profitt. Mr. Profitt is currently being served with a criminal summons ordering him to appear before a Fayette County District Court judge,’ police said in a statement.

Earlier the Paul people distanced themselves from the violence and the volunteer. ‘Whatever the perceived provocation, any level of aggression or violence is deplorable, and will not be tolerated by our campaign,’ Paul campaign manager Jesse Benton said through a statement released Tuesday afternoon. ‘The Paul campaign has disassociated itself from the volunteer who took part in this incident.’

Paul appeared on Fox News on Tuesday morning saying there was nothing about the mayhem that he liked. Lexington Police Lt. Edward Hart told the Huffington Post that there were about 300 protesters outside the debate and only a few officers because they were not ‘anticipating any issues.’

‘She had been attending multiple rallies with the same purpose,’ Hart said. ‘She stated that she was wearing a wig and as she was running up to Rand Paul she was either tripped on purpose or pushed to the ground.’

Advertisement

Hart said Valle filed a fourth-degree assault report with the Police Department.

The man who threw Valle to the ground is allegedly Mike Pezzano, says blogger Lisa Grass. An anonymous ‘tea party’ activist alleges that Pezzano was the brute in the checkered shirt assaulting the wigged woman.

-- Tony Pierce

Advertisement