By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The Rand Paul supporter caught on video stomping the head of a MoveOn.org activist and Columbia University alumnus at Monday's Senate debate in Kentucky was identified on Tuesday as Paul's (now former) Borbon County coordinator, according to several reports.
After news of the connection surfaced, the Rand Paul campaign severed ties with Tim Profitt, the man seen stomping the head and neck of Lauren Valle, 23, who was attempting to give Paul an "employee of the month award" from Republicorp, a made-up business meant to symbolize an unholy union between the GOP and corporate interests.
Speculation as to the stomper's connection to Paul's campaign swirled after Valle said her attackers recognized her from previous campaign events and premeditated the assault, according to several reports.
"The Rand Paul campaign knows me and they have expressed distaste for my work before," Valle told Talking Points Memo Tuesday.
Valle said her partner overheard the men threaten, "we're here to do crowd control and we might have to take someone out," according to TPM.
"Once I'm in front of the car, they take me down ... I remembered someone stomping my head in the ground," she recounted to the New York Daily News, adding that she saved herself from further injury by curling into a ball and covering her head.
After the attack, Valle was hospitalized for a concussion and sprains, according to several reports.
"I'm just feeling sad not only for last night but for the level of division that exists in this country," she told the News. "It's a dark moment."
Paul's campaign released the following statement regarding the attack.
"Violence of any kind has no place in our civil discourse and we urge supporters on all sides to be civil to one another as tensions rise heading toward this very important election. We are relieved to hear that the woman in question was not injured."
