Rand Paul said there was "no justification" for the attack on him by neighbor Rene Boucher which left the U.S. senator with broken ribs and other injuries.
In his first interview since the incident, Paul, 54, told the Washington Examiner he could not think of a reason that would cause Boucher to tackle him and injure him so seriously in his yard on Nov. 3 in suburban Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Boucher, 59, a retired anesthesiologist, entered a not guilty plea to a fourth-degree assault charge on Friday in Warren District Court, the Bowling Green Daily News reported.
"Really if you told me he was doing it for some noble cause to feed starving children somewhere, there is no motive," Paul, the Republican junior senator from Kentucky, told the Examiner. "There is no motive that would justify hitting somebody from behind and breaking their ribs and damaging their lungs, so no, there is no justification for something like that."
Boucher is accused of breaking six of Paul's ribs in the attack in Paul's yard, the Daily News wrote. The men, both physicians, live in the Rivergreen subdivision east of Bowling Green, the newspaper stated.
"From my perspective, I'm not really too concerned about what someone's motive is," Paul told the Examiner. "I'm just concerned that I was attacked from the back and somebody broke six of my ribs and gave me a damaged lung where at least for now I have trouble speaking and breathing and now I've hurt for 10 days."
Paul posted on Twitter Monday that he was returning to work even though he was not completely well.
The Examiner reported last week that Paul's neighbors disputed media reports that Paul and Boucher were in a "landscaping dispute."
"Stories of a landscaping dispute or a dispute of any sort between Rand Paul and Rene Boucher are erroneous and unfounded," neighbor Travis Creed told the Examiner. "The reason for Mr. Boucher’s bizarre attack is known only to him. Statements to the contrary are irresponsible and unnecessary.”
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