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A New York shopper has spoken about the moment she was next to former mayor Rudy Giuliani when he was ‘attacked’ by a worker at a Staten Island supermarket on Sunday afternoon.
Drita Rugov was standing next to Giuliani who had agreed to pose for a photograph with her when out of nowhere a 39-year-old store employee slapped the 78-year-old on the back.
Rugov claims that the slap was so hard, that she felt it too.
‘It happened so quickly. I mean I was shoulder to shoulder with Giuliani and I could’ve been hit. Never mind me, I just felt bad for Giuliani. He hit him so hard that I felt it.’
Speaking to Dailymail.com she said that she felt sorry for the former New York mayor and said that he did not deserve the treatment he received simply because of his political views or affiliation.
‘I was doing my normal usual grocery shopping here in ShopRite when I happened to see the former Mayor Giuliani in there. I went up to him to say “hello” and I wanted to take a photo with him. I was getting ready to take this photo when a gentleman that works here hit him open handedly in the back, closer to his neck and said to him “Hey you f***ing scumbag!”‘ Rugov explained.
Drita Rugov was standing next to Giuliani who had agreed to pose for a photograph with her when out of nowhere a 39-year-old store employee slapped the 78-year-old on the back
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was campaigning with his son and New York gubernatorial candidate Andrew Giuliani, seen left here in s a file photo from earlier this month
‘Number one he’s a senior citizen and no matter what his political views are, nobody should be hit. He went to use the men’s room and then this gentleman obviously isn’t happy with Giuliani and decided to assault him, so the gentleman was arrested,’ Rugov continued.
‘I am a regular shopper here and I’ve seen that employee in here. I’ve never had words with him or anything. I’m actually stunned that gentleman did that especially knowing all the staff are nice and the owner’s are nice to everybody,’ Rugova said.
Surveillance footage captured by in-store cameras appear to show the so-called attack was little more than a tap on the back but Giuliani appeared to have felt things differently and went on New York radio station WABC describing how he was fortunate not to have been seriously injured, or even killed.
Giuliani had been at the ShopRite supermarket and had been using the toilets inside the store when he was accosted by the employee who was promptly escorted out by security and arrested. He now faces an assault charge of second-degree assault.
Giuliani was in Staten Island to show support for his son Andrew, who is a gubernatorial candidate and standing for election in the Republican primary this Tuesday.
Shortly after the incident Andrew tweeted the message: ‘MAKE NEW YORK SAFE AGAIN!’, although he did not refer specifically to the incident.
The assailant, who has not been named was taken into custody while at the store and was charged with second-degree assault involving a person over age 65.
‘Number one he’s a senior citizen and no matter what his political views are, nobody should be hit. He went to use the men’s room and then this gentleman obviously isn’t happy with Giuliani and decided to assault him, so the gentleman was arrested,’ Rugova explained
Giuliani recounted the incident on WABC Radio later on Sunday evening in which he said he could have been seriously injured.
‘I come out of the men’s room and a group of people are around me, hugging me and kissing. All the sudden, I feel a shot on my back. Like somebody shot me!,’ he began.
‘I feel this tremendous pain in my back, and I’m thinking, what the — I didn’t even know what it was. All of a sudden, I hear this guy say, ‘You’re a f***ing scumbag,’ then he moves away so nobody can grab him.
‘I went forward but luckily I didn’t fall down. Lucky I’m a 78-year-old who’s in pretty good shape, cause if I wasn’t, I’d have hit the ground and probably cracked my skull and then I look around and the guy says words I can’t repeat. ‘You f***in’ whatever!’
‘He moves away yelling and screaming, ‘You’re gonna kill women!”
‘You guys think you’re saving babies, but you’re gonna kill women,’ the worker, who faces assault charges continued to rage.
Rudy Giuliani was attacked by a supermarket worker on Staten Island on Sunday as he was campaigning for his son, Andrew, left, when he was slapped (file photo)
Giulinai said that he understood the comment to be about abortion rights and the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v Wade.
‘The Supreme Court made a decision,’ Giuliani said. ‘You don’t go around attacking people because of it. I mean, go get it changed.’
‘He looked either drunk or high. He works for ShopRite and I thought to myself that I might ordinarily have ignored it. But I had to have this guy arrested because this has going on too damn much.
‘I mean suppose I was a weaker 78-year-old and cracked my skull and died?’ he asked.
‘This has to stop. This is getting ridiculous,’ he told the New York Times. ‘I’ve been in politics 50 years, I’ve never been attacked like this.’
Giuliani said he had red marks on his back but there was no blood and he had managed to stay on his feet.
‘My back hurts, but otherwise I’m able to walk and stuff like that.He almost knocked me down. Thank God for a 78-year-old, I am in pretty good shape.’
Giuliani has flipped over the years when it comes to his stance on abortions, first having opposed them, then supporting them before backtracking once again.
On his WABC radio show he said he had gone through ‘a torturous, intellectual, and emotional and moral situation with abortion’ before ultimately deciding that he opposed the practice.
Giuliani, 78, was at the supermarket as he stumped for his son, Andrew, who is running to be New York State Governor (file photo)
Shortly after the incident, Andrew Giuliani tweeted ‘MAKE NEW YORK SAFE AGAIN!’ although did not refer specifically to the incident
Giuliani was at the supermarket as he campaigned for his son, Andrew, who is running to be New York State Governor ahead of Tuesday’s primary.
‘He’s doing fine,’ son Andrew told the New York Post. ‘But it’s a sad day when New Yorkers’ greatest crime fighter, ‘America’s Mayor,’ is attacked. I blame the left-wing for encouraging violence. This is crazy.’
Andrew said that his father was in good spirits and joked: ‘I ran into the only person who is not voting for Andrew Giuliani.’
Witnesses and law enforcement say he his father appeared shaken following the assault.
‘I was stunned. I was shoulder-to-shoulder with Rudy inside ShopRite. We’re talking, and all of a sudden an employee came out of nowhere and open-handedly slapped him in the back and said, ‘Hey, what’s up scumbag?” Rugova-Johnson told the New York Post.
‘[The attacker] was on duty at the time,’ she said. ‘The cops arrested him.’
The attack happened at the ShopRite store in Staten Island on Veterans Road
Giuliani was said to be posing for photos at the time of the attack by a store worker
Giuliani was a lawyer for former President Donald Trump and pushed baseless claims about election fraud and wanted to dispute the results of the 2020 presidential election
Giuliani who was a lawyer for former President Donald Trump when he was in office, was posing for photos at the time of the attack.
‘Rudy was assaulted,’ Giuliani’s partner Dr. Maria Ryan said. ‘He’s a 78-year-old man with a bad back and bad knees.’
A worker at the ShopRite store who answered the phone told DailyMail.com that they were ‘not allowed to say anything’ however the store later released a statement regarding the incident.
‘We are aware that an incident instigated by a store associate involving former Mayor Rudy Giuliani took place at our store on Staten Island earlier today. Store security observed the incident, reacted swiftly and the police were notified.
‘We have zero tolerance for aggression toward anyone,’ a spokesperson said.
On Twitter, Giuliani was roundly mocked over the incident.
‘Wow! I would never condone slapping a public official unless they’d done and said all the terrible things Rudy has done,’ joked one.
‘He got hit so hard his hair started crying again,’ mocked another.
‘Hopefully the Staten Island ShopRite employee had access to hand sanitizer,’ added another Twitter user
On Twitter, Giuliani was roundly mocked over the incident
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