Woman stomped outside Conway-Paul debate - WDRB 41 Louisville News

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB Fox 41) -- A supporter for U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul is apologizing for an incident in which video shows him stomping on a liberal activist's head.

Tim Profitt is a volunteer with the Paul campaign.  He tells the Associated Press that the camera angle made the scuffle look worse than it was.  Profitt also criticized police for not stepping in, and he says other supporters warned authorities about the activist.

The Rand Paul campaign has cut ties with Profitt, removing him as Bourbon County campaign coordinator and banning him from campaign events.

Lauren Valle was representing the liberal organization MoveOn.org and claimed to be presenting Paul with an award from RepubliCorp. That's a group created by MoveOn.org that focuses on what it calls the merger between corporate America and the Republican Party.

"I'm here to present Rand Paul with the 'Employee of the Month' award, however his supporters were not very nice to me and my message which is same as everyone else. I got my head stepped on and I have a bit of a headache," said Lauren Valle, MoveOn.org.

The woman denied police were involved, but afterwards officers pulled her aside to question her about the incident.  Lexington police have viewed the Fox 41 video and are investigating whether to charge Profitt.

Moveon.org's executive director released a statement, saying "We're appalled at the violent incident that occurred at the Kentucky Senate debate last night.  This kind of violence has no place in American society, much less at a peaceful political rally."

Paul's campaign released its own statement saying in part, "Violence of any kind has no place in our civil discourse and we urge supporters on all sides to be civil to one another as tensions rise heading toward this very important election."