Rudy Giuliani is a former mayor of New York and a former lawyer for former President Donald Trump. He is a Republican, and his son, Andrew Giuliani is now striving to become governor of New York.
Over the weekend, Rudy Giuliani visited a grocery store on Staten Island called ShopRite. He was there to help campaign for his son. While inside the store, he felt an impact on his back that he later described as feeling like a gunshot. On “The Curtis Sliwa Show,” he explained, “All the sudden, I feel a shot on my back, like somebody shot me. I went forward, but luckily I didn’t fall down.” He added that if he weren’t in “pretty good shape” he could’ve “hit the ground and probably crack my skull.”
It was not a gunshot that his Giuliani’s back. It was a store employee who walked up to the former mayor and slapped him on the back. Security camera footage caught the incident on tape. Watch it for yourself below.
Video of the “assault” on Rudy at ShopRite, where Rudy had the person arrested, and said if he wasn’t in better shape he would’ve fallen, cracked his skull, and died. pic.twitter.com/EpgSpPu2fk
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) June 26, 2022
The slap doesn’t look all that intense in the footage, but it is notable that everyone around Giuliani seems to react to the incident, and the store employee is quickly led away from the former mayor. In a Facebook live post, Giuliani said that the slap “hurt tremendously.” He also described it as feeling like “a boulder.”
Giuliani insinuated that the store employee may have hit him in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade. He explained that the employee called him “a woman killer.” He said, “You kill women. Your party kills women. You’re one of the people who kills women.” Giuliani added, “He might have made a reference to the word abortion in there, but mostly it was killing women.”
Giuliani added that the man wouldn’t stop cursing at him and saying threatening things. He eventually decided that enough was enough and that the man needed to be arrested. He said, “Let’s get him arrested. Let’s make an example out of him. … This has to stop, this idea that you attack people.”
Giuliani’s son Andrew responded to the incident on Twitter writing, “As governor I will stand up for law and order so that New Yorkers feel safe again.”
We will not be intimidated by left wing attacks. As governor I will stand up for law and order so that New Yorkers feel safe again. This message has resonates with voters throughout my campaign, leading up to Tuesday’s primary. (2/2) https://t.co/GY6FT3FjGd
— Andrew H. Giuliani (@AndrewHGiuliani) June 27, 2022
In a statement to PEOPLE, ShopRite explained, “We are aware that an incident instigated by a store associate involving former Mayor Rudy Giuliani took place at our store on Staten Island on Sunday. Store security observed the incident, reacted swiftly and the police were notified. We have zero tolerance for aggression toward anyone.”
The store employee who slapped Giuliani has been identified as Daniel Gill. He has been charged with second-degree assault.