Rudy Giuliani insisted Monday that New York has turned into the “Wild, Wild West” and that he could have been killed after he was randomly whacked by a worker at a ShopRite on Staten Island while out campaigning for his son.
The 78-year-old former New York City mayor said he was suffering from a “very sore back” and “swelling” in the wake of Sunday’s caught-on-camera attack inside the store.
“He hit me to knock me down and if that doesn’t merit jail time in New York, we’re in the Wild, Wild, West,” Giuliani said during a virtual press conference.
Giuliani called for his alleged attacker to be prosecuted, saying he could have easily been killed if he’d been knocked to the floor.
“It was a very, very heavy shot. He could have easily hit me, knocked me to the ground and killed me,” he said. “He’s lucky he didn’t knock me down. Falling is extremely dangerous for an elderly person.”
He added, “His intent was to cause serious harm … I could have fallen and cracked my skull and died.”
Giuliani said he wasn’t hospitalized after the ordeal but he was planning to see his doctor later Monday to make sure there aren’t “permanent injuries.”
The worker, Daniel Gill, 39, was taken into custody inside the ShopRite and charged with second-degree assault involving a person over age 65, police sources told The Post.
“This guy should be in prison,” Giuliani said.
Giuliani revealed in a second press conference Monday that cops had told him Staten Island DA Michael McMahon’s office planned to downgrade Gill’s charge.
Gill, who had no prior arrests, had his charges downgraded to third-degree assault, third-degree menacing, and second-degree harassment during his arraignment in Staten Island Criminal Court on Monday.
“Finally, I thought we had a DA in New York in Staten Island who was a real DA in favor of protecting victims and not letting criminals go free so they can start hitting other 78-year-old men,” Giuliani said.
The former federal prosecutor had earlier told The Post he felt it was his duty to alert the cops of the alleged assault.
The incident unfolded Sunday afternoon while Giuliani was visiting the store as part of his son Andrew Giuliani’s campaign for New York governor.
The ex-pol said he’d just come out of the men’s room inside the store when he was suddenly struck from behind.
Surveillance footage captured the man hitting Giuliani across the back before walking away.
Giuliani claimed the man, who was working at the time, then allegedly started saying the former mayor “kills women” because of his pro-life stance on abortion.
The ordeal occurred two days after the US Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion ruling.
