The three to five men who attacked Gov. Bobby Jindal's campaign finance director and her boyfriend after a Louisiana Republican Party fund-raiser in the French Quarter last Friday
shouted obscenities at the couple and made reference to the fact they were nicely dressed, but made no political comments or other statements, according to a report released today by the New Orleans Police Department.
Allee Bautsch suffered a broken leg and her boyfriend, Joe Brown, got a concussion and a fractured nose and a fractured jaw in the incident.
"It should be noted that other than making reference to the victims being nicely dressed, along with other observations about their physical appearance, Mr. Brown did not hear them make any other comments," the report says, based on an interview Monday with Brown.
There has been speculation that the men who injured Bautsch and Brown were part of a group of protesters that had been outside the fund-raiser earlier at Brennan's restaurant, but the report notes that most of that group had left about an hour earlier when they were told that the dignitaries at the dinner had departed. Jindal was at the event but left the area well before Bautsch and Brown.
The report says:
Shortly before 10:30 p.m., Mr. Brown and Ms. Bautsch left the restaurant and began walking towards St. Louis Street. Mr. Brown noted there were several protestors loitering in the area, but not nearly the number which had been present earlier. Soon after leaving the restaurant he heard "cat calls." At an unknown point within the 400 block of Royal Street, both Mr. Brown and Ms. Bautsch then crossed from the Brennan's side of the street to the Supreme Court side of the street.
They continued to walk towards St. Louis when Mr. Brown began to hear people behind him scream obscenities. Initially he was not sure if they were being directed at him and his girlfriend, of if they were simply the outbursts of drunken revelers.
As they neared the intersection, Mr. Brown state he heard subjects state things such as "Little blonde bitch," "You're a f------- faggot," and "You think you're f------ special."
At this point, Mr. Brown realized these derogatory terms were being directed at Ms. Bautsch and him. He then requested she begin to walk faster toward the Omni-Royal hotel located at the intersection of St. Louis and Royal.
Mr. Brown also recalled the farther they got from the restaurant, the closer these subjects got to them. When they reached the corner of St. Louis and Royal, Mr. Brown and his date turned south on St. Louis.
It was at this time that one of the subjects pushed him into the iron gate that surround the State Supreme Court (building). He then fell to the ground, and one of the attackers got on top of him and began to attack him. Mr. Brown stated as he was pushed to the ground, Ms. Bautsch was also either pushed down or fell down near where he was. As he fought to get his attacker off of him, he heard his girlfriend cry out in pain. She then repeatedly stated, "Oh my god, my leg is broken."
All of the attackers then ran away in an unknown direction.
Based on information provided by Brown, police released a description of one suspect, saying he was in his 20s, looked "dirty" and wore his hair in an auburn-colored ponytail. The man was 6 feet, 1 inch tall with a thin build, police said. He wore a light-colored T-shirt and dark pants.
