While former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and members of her family were said to have been involved in a large fight during a party in Anchorage last weekend, there's now another side of the story regarding who started it, who fought in it, and most notably, what Palin herself allegedly said.
Image source: AP/Carolyn Kaster
That dispute comes from a source who spoke with RealClearPolitics and is "close to the Palin family and "wanted to provide their version of the events in question."
Basically the Palin family were said to have pulled up in a Hummer stretch limo, joined the party where a band was playing and alcohol was being consumed, then at some point a brawl ensued.
RealClearPolitics noted that previous eyewitness reports indicate the melee erupted after Track Palin, the former governor’s adult son, confronted an ex-boyfriend of his 20-year-old sister Willow.
But the Palin family insisted that the former boyfriend was the instigator, according to the source who spoke to RealClearPolitics.
More from RealClearPolitics:
The initial tussle occurred, the source said, after the young man in question “tried to get in” to the Hummer limousine after he’d engaged in some unspecified “questionable behavior.”Track Palin soon found himself struggling to fend off four men who had “piled on him,” according to the source.
Todd Palin then inserted himself into the brawl, which left the former “First Dude” of Alaska bleeding.
Next, it was Sarah Palin’s turn to leave her own mark on the most talked about rumble in Anchorage since the 1964 earthquake.
On the previous night, she had been in Houston to speak at a fundraiser benefiting the Mighty Oaks Warrior Foundation, which helps wounded veterans. That event apparently was fresh on Palin’s mind when she engaged in the tumult on Saturday night.
According to the source, as her husband and son were trading blows with their adversaries, Palin was yelling (in reference to her son), “Don’t you know who he is? He’s a vet!”
This rendition of her words differs slightly but significantly from a previous report, which had Palin shouting, “Don’t you know who I am?”
Over the years, Sarah Palin has spoken frequently about her son’s U.S. Army service in the Iraq War, and Track currently serves as a counselor, working with veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“From my understanding, she was in full ‘mama grizzly’ mode defending the kids,” the RealClearPolitics source said in regard to Sarah Palin.
The New York Times added:
Witnesses said the Palin family members climbed back into their stretch Hummer limousine. Before they left, however, Mrs. Palin unleashed several rounds of profanity and Track Palin made a vulgar gesture toward the crowd, according to one participant at the party who declined to be identified out of fear of reprisals. (One participant, Eric Thompson, an employee of the firm whose office manager hosted the party, said he was fired after speaking to ABC News.)
Track Palin received four cracked ribs and his dad got "bloodied up," the source told RealClearPolitics.
While Bristol Palin reportedly got involved, the source doubted the observation saying she had a “mean right hook” since she's left-handed.
The Palin family was ordered by the homeowner to leave, witnesses said, according to the Times.
The Anchorage Police Department noted that while no one wanted to press charges, an investigation is ongoing, RealClearPolitics said.
Sarah Palin hasn't commented on the incident.
