The contest for the open Senate seat in Massachusetts (it isn’t Teddy Kennedy’s seat) has turned violent. One of the staffers, possibly Michael Meehan, shoved Weekly Standard reporter John McCormack into a metal railing, which knocked him to the ground:
You can see in the video how the assailant moves toward McCormack, eventually putting him into the railing like he was body checking him into the glass. It’s very obvious.
Here a picture of the assault:
The reason McCormack came under attack was probably his line of questioning. He dared to ask if Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley actually stood behind her assertion that there were no terrorists in Afghanistan:
After taking a question from a CNN reporter on the street outside the restaurant, I asked her:
TWS: Attorney General Coakley, you said last night that there are no terrorists in Afghanistan–that they’re all in Yemen and Pakistan. Do you stand by that remark?
COAKLEY: I’m sorry, did someone else have a question?
GRIFF JENKINS, Fox News: I did. Why are you in Washington tonight?
COAKLEY: We planned an event after the primary that would be a unity event in Washington. We’re also in the middle of a very intense campaign [...]
After Coakley finished her answer, she began walking away from the restaurant, and I walked behind her asking why health care industry lobbyists were supporting her at the fundraiser. She didn’t reply.
As I walked down the street, a man who appeared to be associated with the Coakley campaign pushed me into a freestanding metal railing. I ended up on the sidewalk. I was fine. He helped me up from the ground, but kept pushing up against me, blocking my path toward Coakley down the street.
I wonder if some of this wasn’t in order.
Seriously. This guy is manhandling McCormack. Two short bursts and McCormack gets past.
Oh, and McCormack’s question is a good one, which is why Coakley refused to even consider answering it. During her debate with Massachusetts Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown, Coakley made the statement that the terrorists in Afghanistan were gone. Mission accomplished:
You can see why she would want a big, strong Obama appointee to be there to knock down reporters who ask the wrong questions.
Update:
I thought about putting this in a new post, but since I just posted this one a bit ago, I’ll just update it. Via Red State, Meehan admits shoving McCormack and apologizes:
Last evening I was a little too aggressive in the confusion of trying to help the Attorney General get to her car and catch a flight.
I clearly did not intend to cause John McCormack to trip and fall over that low fence. As the video shows and he confirms in his blog, I stopped to help him up and make sure he was OK.
I talked with Mr. McCormack this afternoon and apologized for my part.
Erick Erickson wonders:
By the way, Michael Meehan has been nominated by Obama to sit on the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Will the press tolerate a man who assails members of the press sitting on the Broadcast Board of Governors?
