Huh. Rand Paul really was attacked over yard debris, according to attacker’s attorney

By Robert Laurie —— Bio and Archives June 12, 2018

Comments | Print This | Subscribe | Email Us

Political watchers will recall that, last fall, Rand Paul was attacked by his next-door neighbor. While mowing his lawn, the Senator was blindsided by a savage tackle that broke six ribs – including three displaced fractures – and endured months of intense pain during his recovery. At the time, many media outlets (including this one) wondered if there was a political motive behind the assault. The perpetrator suggested the whole thing was an escalating feud about lawn debris but virtually everyone was skeptical.

Now, we have more information via court docs filed by the now-convicted attacker’s attorney.

It said the disagreement over yard debris dates back to September 2017, when Paul piled a 10-foot-wide (3-meter-wide) stack of limbs onto a spot near Boucher’s property. The pile sat until October, when Boucher picked it up and hauled it away in portable dumpsters. “Even though this debris was not on Dr. Boucher’s property, he viewed it as unsightly — as it was placed directly in his line of sight from his patio and the back door of his house,” the court record said. Two more piles of debris appeared in the same month, and Boucher burned the pile on Nov. 2. Boucher used gasoline and suffered second-degree burns that he needed treatment for, the memorandum said. The next day, Paul used his lawnmower to blow leaves onto Boucher’s yard and then made another branch pile in the same spot, it said. “As Dr. Boucher has stated throughout, he lost his temper and tackled Rand Paul as Paul was carrying branches from another location on his property and placing them on the property line,” the memorandum said.

This filing could mean one of two things. Either: A: Boucher is trying to downplay the role of politics in the attack as he tries to dodge jail time. or B: Boucher really is just the kind of crackpot neighbor that most of us have had to deal with at one point or another during our lives. If it’s ‘A’ Boucher’s attorney is trying to spare his client from the appearance of launching a pre-meditated and ideologically motivated attack, which would probably end up earning him more time in the clink. If It’s ‘B,’ well, he’ll probably skate with a slap on the wrist. Sentencing is scheduled for Friday, so we’ll see what the court thinks…