LATE WORK DAY TURNED VIOLENT
Political consultant Art Hackney is reporting he was brutally attacked on Monday night in front of his Spenard-area office by three young men.
Between 7:30 pm and 8 pm, he was ambushed as he returned from walking his dog. He was hit in the face, took a baseball bat to the ribs, and was able to fend off a baseball bat blow to his head. He sustained a cracked cheekbone, sore ribs and bloody knees.
“One punched me straight between the eyes, the other hit me simulatanously with the bat, I went down on my knees and looked up, and saw and saw the bat coming at me, and put my hand up,” he reported to Must Read Alaska. “One of them shouted ‘F.U. Hackney.’ ”
“The ironic thing was I was just trying to hang onto my dog, so he wouldn’t run away and get hit by a car. He was barking like crazy,” Hackney said.
He has not reported the incident to the police. “The lecture I’m getting is if you don’t report it to the police, it could get more violent,” he said. “I’m going to watch my back, there’s no question about it.”
From the standpoint of helping his clients win their races, there’s no benefit to making it a police case, he said. It’s a distraction from the work he is doing on several campaigns.
Hackney is consulting for Alaska House candidates Ross Bieling, Chris Birch, and Mike Gordon, as well as other races, such as Congressman Don Young’s campaign.
Hackney said the incident happened so fast that the only image that sticks with him is of a young, disheveled white man. The men ran off quickly.
Hackney is the chairman of the American Association of Political Consultants and has been in the business for over 30 years.