Rich Beeson, the CM for Rubio, punched me in the face tonight on Mackinac Island. The Michigan State Police are looking for him. #MIGOP
— John Yob (@strategic) September 18, 2015
A gathering of Republican presidential staffers on Mackinac Island in Michigan Thursday night turned violent.
The incident involved Rich Beeson, a deputy campaign manager for Sen. Marco Rubio, and John Yob, Sen. Rand Paul's national political director.
Security footage from Horn's Bar, where the staffers were gathered, appears to show Beeson turning away from the bar, walking past Yob and quickly punching him in the jaw before walking away. The video begins in what appears to be the middle of a situation, but does not show what led to the confrontation.
In a pair of tweets sent this morning, Yob said the Michigan state police are looking for Beeson, and Yob is pressing charges. He also called on the Rubio campaign to fire Beeson.
In an email chain between Yob and Terry Sullivan forwarded to National Journal, Rubio's campaign director, Terry Sullivan, appears to think Yob is joking.
The email chain starts with Yob telling Sullivan: "Hey man, you better wake up. Beeson punched me in the face. Cops involved."
Sullivan's response, six minutes later: "Well that if you were talking shit I'm glad he did. Besides. We need more space and wanna take over your townhouse when Rand is done."
