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Louisville Mayor Greg Fisher (D) had just hugged someone on Saturday night when a man approached and hit him, causing the mayor to fall back to the ground in downtown Louisville, according to a video of the incident.
Footage of the attack, published by the WDRB, shows a man casually approaching Fischer and then suddenly hitting the mayor with his right fist. When the mayor fell, the assailant walked away while another man tried to face him.
Fisher was not seriously injured, according to Louisville police, who are currently searching for the attacker. The incident took place in the Fourth Street Live shopping mall.
Until Sunday, the mayor seemed relatively unshakable.
“You know, sometimes things happen in life,” Fisher told WLKY. “It simply came to our notice then. You have to go back and move on. “
The attack on Fischer came about four months after a gunman opened fire in the office of Craig Greenberg, a Democratic candidate running to replace Fischer, who is in his third and final term as mayor. Officers used tables to barricade themselves inside the office, and Greenberg said after the February incident that a bullet destroyed his sweater. Local activist Quintez Brown faces state and federal charges in connection with the incident; he pleaded not guilty, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
A candidate for mayor was shot in his office. Police have charged an activist with attempted murder.
On Saturday night, Greenberg wrote on Twitter that Fischer and his family were in his thoughts.
“Whoever is responsible for this attack must surrender,” Greenberg wrote. “We cannot resolve our differences by violence.”
Police have not made public the attacker’s potential motive, and it is unclear what Fischer was doing at the downtown Louisville complex when he was hit. Earlier Saturday, Fischer attended the city’s pride parade, according to his Twitter account.
The incident raised questions about how the attacker escaped the mayor’s bodyguard and how he managed to escape. Jessica Wettington, a spokeswoman for the mayor, told the Courier-Journal that the mayor’s bodyguards were present during the attack.
She said the mayor was “well” immediately after the attack and did not need serious medical treatment, adding: “The mayor says he is happy he can still take the blow.
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