Chris Matthews' Producer Allegedly Gets Into Shoving Match With Republicans

Despite the fiery political atmosphere, this week was largely civil at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. The exception to the rule came when some innocent heckling of MSNBC host Chris Matthews allegedly turned into a shoving match between one of Matthews' producers and a few GOP convention attendees. The Hollywood Reporter tells the story:

A scuffle involving an MSNBC producer and two men who heckled host Chris Matthews was being investigated by security officials Thursday night a few blocks from the Republican National Convention.

Matthews was hosting a show at a makeshift outdoor stage near the Tampa Bay Times Forum after Mitt Romney accepted the GOP presidential nomination. During a break, two men shouted, "Hey Chris, how's that tingle up your leg?" The comment was a reference to Matthews’ 2008 comment that a Barack Obama speech sent a "thrill up his leg."

According to witnesses, a shoving match ensued.

"Then this short dude who works for MSNBC pushed them," said Toby David, who came to the defense of the two hecklers. Another witness, Kim Churchman, added, "One of them was smiling and didn't know it was coming, and the guy just shoved him."

Apparently, aside from being physically violent, the MSNBC producer was extremely rude during the incident, asking one of the witnesses "You want to get in trouble too?" when the other man tried to intercede. Evidently, hearing an entire convention of people described as racists for three days straight leaves a mark.

Video of the interview with Kim Churchman, another witness, is also available here: