"Thank you for not claiming she was stomped on. Or as some bloggers are claiming "kicked in the head by two men""

I agree with this. Exaggerating the event is indeed unhelpful because it detracts from what actually happened.

A young women who sought to make what was no more than a mild political statement, was first forced to the ground and then *after* offering NO resistance, physically assaulted further. I second BillD's concern about what 'Mr. Boot' might have done if his more sensible colleague hadn't intervened and demand that he stop.

IMO if the political candidate in question had any sense then i) he'd make an unequivocal public apology for this incident, ii) dissociate himself entirely from these kinds of actions and iii) promise that he will endevour to ensure that no similar abuse of the public (be they political "activists" or otherwise) by his staff will occur in the future.

I understand that in the US things are a bit different to the UK because you have lots of guns and indeed gun-wielding nutters willing to murder presidents (do other politicians ever get killed by fanatics?) But even so, there is simply no excuse for forcibly treading upon a passive helpless woman. Whatever your political stripe, it's assault and nothing less.