Rand Paul - Assault at Debate

Summary

On October 25, 2010 a news story broke stating that an assault had taken place as Rand Paul entered the building for his final debate with opponent Jack Conway. Within minutes, a video was being played on the news which clearly showed a Rand Paul supporter wrestling a woman to the ground, and a second man placing his foot on her shoulder and pushing it forcefully. His foot slips and appears to hit her head. In the hours that followed, the Rand Paul supporter who stomped on the woman's shoulder and head was identified and dismissed from the campaign. The woman was interviewed and identified as moveon.org employee Lauren Valle. Mrs Valle claimed that she was there to get her message out and that the supporters there did not like the message and this lead to altercation. She stated that she was doing nothing more than holding a sign.

In the following days, Lauren Valle appeared on numerous television shows and made statements to news outlets. She outlined the series of events leading up to the taped assault as follows:

• Rand Paul supporters recognized Mrs Valle as a moveon.org employee
• Rand Paul supporters formed a blockade between Mrs Valle and Rand Paul's vehicle
• Mrs Valle moved around this blockade
• Rand Paul supporters chased her around the vehicle and in front of the vehicle
• This led to the assault

On numerous times in numerous interviews and statements, Mrs Valle maintained that she was merely holding a sign - nothing more. She flatly denied attempting to place something into Mr Rand's vehicle. She repeatedly stated that she and other heard the attack being planned by Rand Paul supporters. She called the assault "premeditated".

Not long after these appearances - within two days of the events - a video surfaced showing the series of events prior to the actions of the original footage. This video plainly, flatly, and completely refutes Mrs Valle's assertion that she was doing nothing more than holding a sign. The video shows the following series of events:

1. There was no blockade between Mrs Valle and Mr Paul
2. Mrs Valle left the curb with her sign and attempted to shove it into the window
   1. She was not hindered in any way from completing this task
   2. No one touched her until she reached the window
3. After attempting to shove the sign into the window numerous times, she was pushed away from the vehicle
4. She was not restricted at this time and the vehicle moved forward.
5. She then moved behind the vehicle, around the driver's side, and in front of the van
6. She the sprinted toward Rand Paul with her sign
7. At this time she was grabbed by Rand Paul supporters and the incidents seen in first video take place

Analysis of the video showed the following problems with Mrs Valle's statements:

• No "blockade" was formed around Mrs Valle - it was a lie
• She did indeed attempt to shove the sign into the window - numerous times - another lie
• She was not chased around the vehicle but rather ran that way to pursue Rand Paul - a third lie
• She was only detained after this second attempt - a response that refutes assertions that the supporters premeditated an assault on her as they would have responded harsher after her initial movements at Rand Paul

Videos and still images are shown below as proof of the series of events.

 

The Incident

Late in the evening of October 25, 2010 TPM published a story claiming that a moveon.org employee had been assaulted outside the entrance to the final debate between Jack Conway and Rand Paul. The news story was short and is reproduced below in it's entirety.

 

The Assault Victim's Statement

As seen in the video, the woman was interviewed after the incident and claimed that she was there to simply get her message out just like everyone else. She claimed to be there merely to show a sign. She claims that the supporters of Rand Paul were not receptive to that message and those beliefs are what lead to the altercation.

These supporters were not very nice to me and my message, which is the same as everyone else. I just wanted to get out here with a sign, but I got my head stepped on.

 

Dismissal of Assailant

By noon the next day, the identity of the assailant who stepped on Lauren Valle's head was identified as Tim Profitt, a volunteer with the Rand Paul's U.S. Senate campaign as the Bourbon County campaign coordinator. The Rand Paul campaign cut ties with the assailant and banned him from future events. Rand Paul's campaign made two statements which are shown below in the Keith Olbermann interview.

 

CBS Appearance

The next morning - October 26, Lauren Valle appeared on CBS Early show and maintained her statements that she was only at the event to hold a sign. The interview can be seen here.

 

 

Keith Olberman Appearance

That evening - October 26, Lauren Valle appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann and discussed the events. She explains the project that she is working on and her presence at the rally. She states that she had been in Kentucky two weeks running a moveon.org campaign called Republicorp to mock what she claims is a collusion between Republicans and corporate America.

As seen in the discussion, Lauren Valle made numerous claims about the sequence of events that took place and the actions of the people involved on both sides. A partial transcript is shown below.

 

Huffington Post Statements

On October 26, the Huffington Post quoted statements made by Mrs Valle that the Rand Paul supporters moved in front of her and formed a blockade. (Underline placed by PoliGu).

When Rand Paul's car arrived a couple of them stepped in front of me so I stepped off the curb to get around them to get back out front. At that point they started grabbing for me and I ran all the way around the car with them in pursuit. The footage is after I've run all the way around the car and I'm in front of the car and that is when they took me down. One or two people twisted my arms behind my back and took me down... It was about two-to-three seconds after that that another person stomped on my head. And I lay there for 20 seconds or so and my partner Alex came and got me up and that's the point where there is the media clip of me speaking.

 

Summary of Victim Statements

According to the dialogues between Mrs Valle and Mr Olbermann and Mrs Valle and Mr Smith, this was the sequence of events:

1. Rand Paul supporters recognized Mrs Valle as a moveon.org employee
2. Rand Paul supporters formed a blockade between Mrs Valle and Rand Paul's vehicle 
3. Mrs Valle moved around this blockade
4. Rand Paul supporters chased her around the vehicle and in front of the vehicle
5. This led to the assault

Mrs Valle also reasserted in both interviews that she only intended to have a sign be seen. When directly questioned as to whether or not she was attempting to get to Mr Paul or to hand him something, she said no. However, Mrs Valle did say that she was trying to get a picture with Mr Paul and her "award," a statement that directly contradicts previous statements that her only intention was to hold a sign.

 

Additional Video

That same day, a video was released on youtube that showed the series of events from the start to the portion where Lauren Valle is first dragged away by the Rand Paul supporters. That video completely contradicted most of Mrs Valle's claims of the actions that day and her claims that she only meant to hold a sign.

 

Analysis of Video - Lauren Valle Lied

The video shows the following:

1. There was no blockade between Mrs Valle and Mr Paul
2. Mrs Valle left the curb with her sign and attempted to shove it into the window
   1. She was not hindered in any way from completing this task
   2. No one touched her until she reached the window
3. After attempting to shove the sign into the window numerous times, she was pushed away from the vehicle
4. She was not restricted at this time and the vehicle moved forward.
5. She then moved behind the vehicle, around the driver's side, and in front of the van
6. She the sprinted toward Rand Paul with her sign
7. At this time she was grabbed by Rand Paul supporters and the incidents seen in first video take place

The still pictures taken from the video clearly show Mrs Valle (in the red sweater) standing by the road with no one in front of her forming a blockade (top left). She then leaves the curb and attempts to shove the sign into the open window (top right and bottom left). She is then pushed by by the security and supporters. She then runs around the vehicle (behind it, around the driver side, and in front of it). She then reaches the front of the vehicle, sees Rand Paul and sprints towards him (seen in the bottom right). At this point she is restrained by the supporters and Tim Profitt steps on her shoulder and head.

Again, the video clearly shows that Mrs Valle lied on numerous occasions when she stated that she was there only to hold a sign. She lied about her intentions, her actions, and about the series of events that took place.

 

Details to Come

These events are still unfolding and this item will be updated when possible.

References

[1] Website: TPM.com Article: Rand Paul Supporter Stomps Head Of Female MoveOn Member Outside KY Debate (VIDEO) Author: Brian Beutler Accessed on: 10/27/2010

[2] Website: The Daily KOS Article: Update: Confirmed Assailant in Kentucky Paul Official Author: patriot spear Accessed on: 10/27/2010

[3] Website: Mediaite.com Article: Head Stomp Victim Lauren Valle�s Story Doesn�t Completely Jibes With Newly Released Video Author: Colby Hall Accessed on: 10/27/2010

[4] Website: RedState.com Article: Exclusive Video: Lauren Valle Before The Head Stomp Vid Author: NA Accessed on: 10/27/2010

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