US politician's fight caught on TV
Updated on 08 June 2007
Tensions in the Alabama Senate have boiled over after a Republican lawmaker punched a Democratic colleague in the head.
Republican Senator Charles Bishop claimed that Democratic Senator Lowell Barron called him an expletive, saying: "I responded to his comment with my right hand."
The whole episode, including the punch, was caught on local TV.
Mr Barron denied using an expletive against Mr Bishop and claimed that it was him who had been insulted and he was just trying to get away when he was hit on the head.
After saying that he regretted throwing the punch because "that's not the way grown men solve their problems," Mr Bishop added that he would not immediately apologise to Mr Barron.
The fight came on the final day of the 2007 regular session of the Legislature.
Tensions began to rise after Mr Barron, who is chairman of the Senate Rules Committee which sets the chamber's work agenda, angered Republicans by not putting an election reform bill in a position to come up for debate.
Having taken a recess Mr Bishop approached Mr Barron and moments later security officers and others rushed to separate the two senators.
The Senate later considered censuring Mr Bishop and expelling him from the chamber for the remainder of the day, but he said that wasn't necessary and walked out of the Capitol, saying he was going home.
© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.
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