In November 2018, Republican Senator Rand Paul was viciously attacked from behind by his Democrat neighbor. He suffered serious injuries, including broken ribs and a punctured lung. He said during testimony at trial he thought he was going to die. Some background:
The blindside tackle, executed as he was standing up after hopping off his lawn mower to pick up a stick, sent Paul and the neighbor tumbling through the air roughly five to 10 feet down a slope, the Kentucky Republican testified Monday in a civil trial against his assailant, 60-year-old Rene Boucher.
The injuries left Paul breathless. Another blow to his back, and he might die, Paul thought.
“At this point, I thought, ‘I can’t breathe. ... If I do nothing, this may be the last breath I ever take, because whoever is doing this isn’t stopping.’ And I really thought if I got another blow to my back, I wasn’t going to survive. And so really I did think I could die at that point. The thought crossed my mind that I may never get up from this lawn again,” Paul said.
Boucher pleaded guilty to felony assault, served time in jail for the assault and was ordered to pay Senator Paul more than $500,000.
"A Kentucky jury on Wednesday awarded $375,000 in punitive damages and $200,000 for pain and suffering, plus $7,834 for medical expenses," the Associated Press reported earlier this year. "Paul said afterward that he hopes the jury's verdict sends a "clear message that violence is not the answer."
Congressman Ilhan Omar just endorsed the attack on Senator Paul and retweeted leftist activist Tom Arnold.
It’s never ok to turn those disagreements into violent, aggressive anger. I hope that’s the message from today.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 30, 2019
Will Democrats be asked about it? Probably not.
Shameful behavior from one of the LEADING voices & faces of the dem party. Why is @IlhanMN retweeting this abhorrent tweet? We should never tolerate violence or promote it! @IlhanMN @TomArnold pic.twitter.com/mDh3Lb9LsL
— Sergio Gor (@SergioGor) July 29, 2019