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Kicked in groin, Michigan Republican downplays party feud: ‘Some people are crazy’ [1]
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Date: 2023-07
Both men then took their glasses off, DeYoung said, noting he has boxed “in the ring” before so put his hands up near his head as a protective gesture in case Chapman took a swing.
"He charges me like a football player — to tackle me — and pushes me all the way down the hallway into the furniture, and my back lands on the arm of a solid wooden chair," DeYoung recounted.
"By the time I landed on that, guys were on top of him trying to pull him off and they all landed on top of me too. I got pulled into the Riptide out of nowhere. Just like that: ‘boom.’"
Chapman, in a separate phone interview with Bridge, alleged that DeYoung had "threatened" him through the door’s window and came out of the meeting with "his dukes up."
Chapman initially declined to discuss details of the incident, citing what he called an attorney-instructed "gag order." Chapman later claimed witnesses could validate his account but refused to name any, citing a potential trial.
It's not the first physical fight Chapman has been involved in at a political event.
The former state Senate candidate was involved in a brief altercation in 2020 when he brought a Barbie doll hanging by a noose to a Capitol protest against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's COVID-19 restrictions.
According to MLive, Chapman has a criminal history, including a prison sentence for assault with intent to do great physical harm in 1990, and jail time for resisting a police officer after attempting to stab an acquaintance in 2018.
"Those aren't Republican values," DeYoung said, questioning Chapman’s mental health and suggesting initial news reports wrongly portrayed Chapman as "some kind of innocent motherfricker” who was simply caught up in party drama.
"We're not really fighting that much in the Republican Party," DeYoung said. "But there are some people that are crazy, and they get emotionally wrapped up in there, and they don't want to talk."
Chapman told Bridge police removed him from the weekend meeting but did not arrest him at the time. He appeared amused by weekend news reports from national and international publications.
"Well, I finally made the cover of ‘The Rolling Stone,’" he said, before beginning to sing his version of a 1972 song by rock band Dr. Hook. "Going to see my picture on the cover. Gonna buy five copies for my mother."
Chapman was suspended Monday by the Wayne 6th Congressional District Republican Committee, according to its chair, Matthew Wilk.
“If the media reports are true, this sort of behavior has no place in our party or civilized discourse, and will not be tolerated,” Wilk said in a statement.
Karamo, the Michigan GOP chair who has been feuding with her own co-chair over party finances, did eventually open the central committee meeting up to other Republicans for a question-and-answer session.
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[1] Url:
https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/kicked-groin-republican-downplays-party-feud-some-people-are-crazy
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