UPDATE
8:07 AM PT — A law enforcement source directly involved in the investigation reacted to the surveillance video, telling TMZ … “Much ado about nothing it seems. It was a pat. This whole thing is a stretch.”
Rudy Giuliani‘s alleged felony assault in a grocery store was captured on surveillance video, and … let’s just say it’s not as violent as Rudy made it out to be.
The video captured the moment, Sunday in a Staten Island ShopRite … an employee came up from behind the former NYC Mayor, and you definitely see him slap Giuliani on the back and then exchange some words.
As we reported, the suspect said “What’s up, scumbag?” as he struck Giuliani … and you can tell from the video the guy’s slap and choice words irked, not only Giuliani, but the team of people around him. Giuliani told the NY Post he felt a “tremendous pain” in his back, and the guy was yelling at him about the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
The suspect was arrested for felony assault — it’s a felony because Rudy is over 65.
Although Giuliani said he was nearly knocked to the ground … it doesn’t appear that way in the video. Now, Donald Trump‘s ex-attorney is calling for the suspect to get jail time. During a news conference he said, “He hit me to knock me down and if that doesn’t merit jail time in New York, we’re in the wild wild west.”
Giuliani, who is 78 years old, says any fall is potentially fatal at his age — “It was a very, very heavy shot. He could have easily hit me, knocked me to the ground and killed me.”