Kelley Paul, the wife of Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, said that the media has victimized her husband a second time after he was attacked earlier in November.
- Kelley Paul, the wife of Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, wrote in a CNN op-ed that the media has victimized her husband a second time after he was attacked earlier in November.
- Rand Paul has suffered six broken ribs and lung damage following the attack allegedly perpetrated by his neighbor.
- Media outlets have frequently quoted Paul's neighbors regarding a landscaping dispute between Rand Paul and his alleged attacker — a narrative Kelley Paul rejected.
The wife of Sen. Rand Paul lambasted the media on Wednesday for "delighting" in spreading rumors about the attack earlier this month that left the Kentucky Republican with six broken ribs and lung damage.
In a CNN op-ed, Kelley Paul described the incident as a "deliberate, blindside attack" perpetrated by the couple's Bowling Green neighbor, and not a "scuffle," "fight," or "altercation," as some media outlets have portrayed it.
"This has been a terrible experience; made worse by the media's gleeful attempts to blame Rand for it, ridiculing him for everything from mowing his own lawn to composting," Kelley wrote.
"As his wife, I have been distraught over seeing him suffer like this. There have been several nights where I had my hand on my phone ready to call 911 when his breathing became so labored it was terrifying," she said, adding that her husband has not taken a single breath without experiencing pain since the incident occurred on November 3.
She accused media outlets of victimizing her husband "a second time" as her husband recovers from his injuries, as well as "concocting theories about an 'ongoing dispute,' based on nothing more than speculation from an attention-seeking person with no knowledge of anything to do with us."
Kelley appeared to be referring to Jim Skaggs, a man who developed the gated community in which the Pauls and their neighbor live and who did not witness the attack but has opined on the incident to various media outlets.
Skaggs said Rand Paul and the neighbor had a long-running dispute centered around the landscaping on their properties.
"I think it was a neighbor-to-neighbor thing," Skaggs told The New York Times. "They just both had strong opinions, and a little different ones about what property rights mean."
Kelley, however, shot down that assessment on Wednesday. She also said neither she nor her husband has spoken with the alleged attacker in a decade, "other than a casual wave from the car."
"The only 'dispute' existed solely in the attacker's troubled mind, until, on a beautiful autumn day, he ran down the hill on our property and slammed his body into Rand's lower back as he stood facing away, wearing noise-canceling headphones to protect his ears from the lawnmower," Kelley Paul said.
The alleged attacker, 59-year-old retired anesthesiologist Rene Boucher, has been charged with fourth-degree assault. In a bizarre statement released shortly after the extent of Paul's injuries were made public, Boucher's attorney Matthew Baker said the incident had nothing to do with either man's political beliefs.
"It was a very regrettable dispute between two neighbors over a matter that most people would regard as trivial," Baker said. "We sincerely hope that Senator Paul is doing well and that these two gentlemen can get back to being neighbors as quickly as possible."
Boucher has pleaded not guilty to the charge, and is due in court on November 30.
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