Woman stomped outside Kentucky debate
(CNN) -- An employee with the liberal group Moveon.org was stomped on by a man wearing a "Rand Paul for Senate" T-shirt outside a televised debate in Lexington, Kentucky, Monday night, police said.
The incident took place before the debate between Republican Paul and Democrat Jack Conway.
In the video from CNN affiliate WDRB, several men wearing Rand Paul shirts or stickers are seen ripping a blonde wig off the head of Lauren Valle and pushing her to the ground. One of the men stomps on her shoulder with his foot, which then lands on the side of her head.
People were shouting "Get the cops. Get the police out here," during the incident.
Valle told WDRB that she was there to present Paul with an award from RepubliCorp. The MoveOn.org-created group focuses on what it calls the merger between corporate America and the Republican Party
"We're here to present Rand Paul with the 'Employee of the Month' award. However, his supporters were not very nice to me and my message which is the same as everyone else -- just wanted to get out here with a sign," Valle of East Falmouth, Massachusetts, told WDRB. "I got my head stepped on, so I have a bit of a headache."
Lexington police are investigating.
"We don't know the suspect. We're in the process of trying to review the video tapes," said Lt. Edward Hart. "Where this took place, there were no police officers."
All of the people who accosted Valle in the video are subject to charges, Hart said.
Valle, who complained of soreness to her temple, told police she would seek medical attention herself.
"Her purpose was to try to get a picture with Rand Paul with this [RepubliCorp] sign so it could be used to embarrass Rand Paul in commercials," Hart said, recounting what Valle told officers. She described herself as a contract employee with MoveOn.org.
Valle was wearing a "I'm a Rand Fan" sticker on her red hooded sweatshirt, the video showed.
The Paul campaign issued a statement, calling the altercation "incredibly unfortunate."
"Violence of any kind has no place in our civil discourse and we urge supporters on all sides to be civil to one another as tensions rise heading toward this very important election," the statement said.
The election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 2.
The incident in Lexington may not have been Valle's first venture into activism.
A Lauren Valle from Falmouth, Massachusetts, was arrested in May with six other Greenpeace activists in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, after painting anti-Arctic drilling signs on a ship Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was going to board in response to the BP oil disaster, CNN affiliate WWL reported.
In August 2008, a Lauren Valle was one of five members of Students for a Free Tibet detained in Beijing, China, for unfurling a "Free Tibet" banner in Olympic Park, the organization reported.
This is what got Lauren Valle arrested in 2008: