Rand Paul’s national political director says a campaign official for Marco Rubio punched him in the chin at a bar, and he wants the guy arrested.
Paul political operative John Yob announced on Facebook Friday that Rich Beeson, a deputy campaign manager for Rubio, “literally physically assaulted me by punching me in the face.”
“I have it on video, from multiple angles. This will play out in the national media in the next few hours,” Yob wrote.
The alleged punch happened at Horn’s Bar on Mackinac Island in Michigan, where the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference as being held. Yob called on Rubio, who is running against Paul for the Republican presidential nomination, to immediately fire Beeson.
“You can't just go around the country in positions of political authority and get physically violent with people you don't like,” Yob wrote.
Mackinac Island Police Chief Brett Riccinto told the Detroit Free Press that his department forwarded a complaint of an alleged assault to the Mackinac County prosecutor. Riccinto said it "would be up to the prosecutor" to decide whether to file charges.
Riccinto told the Detroit newspaper that police have taken witness statements and have security camera video from the bar. He said Yob posted a grainy version of the video on the Internet.
“There wasn't a brawl and the assault shouldn't be over-sensationalized but the video speaks for itself that he hit me in the chin as he walked by me,” Yob wrote on Facebook.
A video purporting to show the assault is circulating widely.
Sean Cockerham: 202-383-6016, @seancockerham
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