Maybe it’s just me, but if I’d gotten slugged in the face and my wife pushed around by a counterprotester, I don’t think I would have politely agreed to step back on the sidewalk while videotaping the man who assaulted me. Give the North Carolina protester who took one for the team some credit; Nathan Tabor handled himself extraordinarily well in upsetting circumstances. For his trouble, both Tabor and the man who mugged him, Govenor Spencer, will have to face off again, this time in court, but somehow this video tends to make me believe he’ll be just fine (via Gateway Pundit and The Right Scoop):

The local Fox News affiliate covered the story:

Tabor says they were protesting a proposed amendment that would give companies money to help with rising credit card fees. He says he was videotaping the event when Govenor Spencer, of Greensboro, approached the protest.

“About that time a gentleman walks around the corner and walks into the middle of the crowd saying it’s all George W. Bush’s fault. It’s all Dick Cheney’s fault.” Tabor said.

The video shows Spencer and at least one protester arguing. Tabor says he stopped recording as the protest began to conclude and walked over to the sidewalk where his wife and 5-year-old daughter were standing.

“As I walked around the corner this gentleman pushed me. And when he pushed me the first time I turned my camera on and brought my camera up. I said please don’t push me. And when I said that he slapped my camera.” Tabor said. “He pushes me again. In the video you can see my body fall back. And I did not say anything to him, I didn’t engage him. I was going to, until he touched me wife.”

Tabor says Spencer pushed his wife and he pushed Spencer back. The video shows Spencer then punching Tabor in the face.

In the video, Spencer is seen telling Tabor that he hit him because Tabor pushed him. Spencer denies hitting Tabor’s wife. Both men have filed assault charges against each other.

Spencer referred FOX8 to his attorney Joe Williams, who said: “We are going to deal with this in the courtroom. Mr. Tabor is going to find out that being wealthy doesn’t make a difference in a courtroom.”

Somehow, I doubt that a class-warfare defense will work in Spencer’s favor. The tape clearly shows that he initiated the confrontation, was asked to keep away and stop touching Tabor, and became even more aggressive. Maybe a little wealth-bashing is all Williams can muster in Spencer’s defense.

Update: YouTube pulled the video, but Eyeblast has it now, courtesy of The Right Scoop.