The popular narrative of an assault against a GOP operative in New Orleans, which was quickly becoming a cause célèbre in the conservative blogosphere, sustained another blow today as the police released a report suggesting the incident was not politically motivated.
The police report on the April 9 incident in which Allee Bautsch, the chief campaign fundraiser for Gov. Bobby Jindal, was attacked by a small group of men says that the group hurled insults at Bautsch and her boyfriend, calling them “b*tch” and “f*ggot,” but did not make political insults.
“It should be noted that other than making reference to the victims being nicely dressed, along with other observations about their physical appearance, Mr. Brown did not hear them make any other comments,” the report says.
The initial claim — since definitively shot down by Jindal’s office — was that Bautsch, whose leg was broken in the attack, and boyfriend Joe Brown were wearing Palin pins, thus becoming targets of the angry leftists.
Then, a conservative blogger’s assertion that the police had described the assailants’ insults as “of a political nature” — a claim picked up by Fox and Yahoo News — was flatly denied by a police spokesman.
According to the police report, which you can read in full below, the incident occurred when Brown and Bautsch were departing a Louisiana GOP fundraiser at the well-known Brennan’s Restaurant at 10:30 p.m. Friday. At the time, many GOP leaders were in the city for the Southern Republican Leadership Conference.
The report notes that there had been protesters outside the restaurant, but most had left at 9:30 after being told that the dignitaries had departed. Here, the report continues:
Mr. Brown noted there were several protesters loitering in the area, but not nearly the number which had been present earlier. Soon after leaving the restaurant he heard “cat calls.” At an unknown point within the 400 block of Royal Street, both Mr. Brown and Ms. Bautsch then crossed from the Brennan’s side of the street to the Supreme Court side of the street.
They continued to walk towards St. Louis when Mr. Brown began to hear people behind him scream obscenities. Initially he was not sure if they were being directed at him and his girlfriend, of if they were simply the outbursts of drunken revelers.
As they neared the intersection, Mr. Brown state he heard subjects state things such as “Little blonde b*tch,” “You’re a f**king f*ggot,,” and “You think you’re f**king special.”
At this point, Mr. Brown realized these derogatory terms were being directed at Ms. Bautsch and him. …
It was at this time that one of the subjects pushed him into the iron gate that surround the State Supreme Court (building). He then fell to the ground, and one of the attackers got on top of him and began to attack him. Mr. Brown stated as he was pushed to the ground, Ms. Bautsch was also either pushed down or fell down near where he was. As he fought to get his attacker off of him, he heard his girlfriend cry out in pain. She then repeatedly stated, “Oh my god, my leg is broken.”
Jindal’s office has not said much about the case other than noting to the Daily Caller that Bautsch’s leg was “badly broken” and that she was not wearing a Palin pin.
Here, via the Times-Picayune, is the full police report:
