Months after the 25 March “broad daylight” stabbing of Kentucky Sen Rand Paul’s staffer, a judge released video footage revealing the ambush on a DC street.
The security footage looks to be taken from outside of a condo on H Street, capturing an overhead view of the attack. The staffer, Phillip Todd, wearing a khaki-coloured jacket, can be seen walking out of the frame, with his friend. But seconds later, Mr Todd was brought back into the frame – on the ground as another man stabbed him.
“What the f***,” someone said. The staffer’s friend, Christopher Barnard, seemed to be heard saying, “go away, go away.”
The assailant is wearing a navy hoodie, a white shirt, and dark pants. After the staffer got up, the assailant then stood up and walked away as if nothing happened, the footage showed.
Mr Barnard was uninjured. Mr Todd, on the other hand, was stabbed multiple times in his head and chest. He suffered a brain bleed, a laceration to his left ear “that may require reconstruction,” and a punctured lung, court documents detailed.
A silver knife and some of Mr Todd’s bloody clothes were later found by investigators on H Street.
The DC Superior Court showed the security tape last month at the preliminary hearing for 42-year-old Glynn Neal, who was charged with assault with intent to kill while armed on 27 March.
The footage was played in court, only after the Washington Post filed a motion last month to have the court intervene. In response, the court noted that the government possessed the video, and if the government opted to provide the footage voluntarily, then the Post’s motion would be considered moot, the court explained. It was indeed, as the government provided the footage.
Police called it a “random violent attack” at the time.
The Kentucky senator tweeted at the time, “A member of my staff was brutally attacked in broad daylight in Washington DC.” He added that he was praying for Mr Todd’s “speedy and complete recovery.”
