It’s never a good idea to attack someone out of spite. It’s an even worse idea to assault a U.S. senator.

That’s the lesson that Rene Boucher just learned after he tackled and injured Republican Senator Rand Paul back in 2017. Boucher is the former presidential candidate’s neighbor, and he’s going to have a much lighter wallet after a jury heard the senator’s testimony on Wednesday.

“A jury in Bowling Green, Kentucky, deliberated less than two hours before delivering the award to the Republican lawmaker who had been attacked while doing yard work at his Kentucky home,” The Associated Press reported.

Senator Paul suffered broken ribs as a result of that bizarre assault, which was triggered by a neighborhood dispute which Boucher — known to neighbors as a leftist who was no fan of the Republican — then escalated.

“Paul had testified during the three-day trial that he feared for his life as he struggled to breathe after Rene Boucher, an anesthesiologist by trade, slammed into him in their upscale Bowling Green neighborhood in late 2017,” the AP stated.

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The result? Boucher has been ordered to pay Sen. Paul over half a million dollars for the injuries caused during the attack.

“The jury awarded $375,000 in punitive damages and $200,000 for pain and suffering, plus $7,834 for medical expenses,” the AP said.

To his slight credit, Boucher was apologetic and openly admitted that he had acted stupidly, describing the decision to assault Paul as “two minutes of my life I wish I could take back.”

As with many cases like this one, there were actually two court trials: one for the criminal assault, and another for civil damages. Boucher did not deny that he committed the crime, which was elevated due to the official position held by Sen. Paul.

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“Boucher has already served a 30-day prison sentence after pleading guilty to assaulting a member of Congress,” stated the AP. “Federal prosecutors have appealed, saying 21 months would have been appropriate. Boucher also paid a $10,000 fine and served 100 hours of community service in the criminal case.”

At first glance, that combined with the half-a-million-dollar-payout may seem excessive for tackling a man, but Paul’s testimony plus the fact that the assault was a willful attack against a sitting senator likely influenced both juries.

“Paul testified that he got off his riding mower to pick up a stick and was straightening up when Boucher hit him from behind with such force that both flew through the air 5 or 10 feet,” reported the AP. “He said he was wearing noise-canceling headphones and didn’t hear Boucher coming toward him.”

As you may remember, that wasn’t the first time that Sen. Paul had a harrowing and potentially traumatizing experience in the last few years.

“For a moment, Paul said, he had a flashback to the 2017 shooting at a baseball field when members of Congress were practicing for a game. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana suffered serious injuries in that shooting,” the report continued.

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Paul has always been a classy guy, and he appeared to keep his cool in the courtroom, even turning the incident into a lesson that is increasingly important in today’s fractured political world.

According to the AP, the senator stated that people of all different political backgrounds should be able to politely disagree, but “it’s never OK to turn those disagreements into violent, aggressive behavior. I hope that’s the message from today.”

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