• The ShopRite worker accused of attacking Rudy Giuliani has been "suspended pending termination," Wakefern Food Corporation, ShopRite's parent company, said.
  • Daniel Gill, a store associate at a Staten Island ShopRite, was arrested in connection with the Sunday incident.
  • "We have zero tolerance for aggression toward anyone," Wakefern said in a statement to Insider.

The ShopRite grocery store worker who has been accused of attacking former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has been "suspended pending termination," Wakefern Food Corporation, ShopRite's parent company, told Insider on Monday. 

Daniel Gill, 39, a store associate at a ShopRite in Staten Island, New York, was arrested on a felony charge of assault in the second degree in connection to the Sunday afternoon incident involving Giuliani at the grocery store, according to the New York Police Department. 

Giuliani was at the ShopRite campaigning for his son Andrew, a Republican candidate for New York governor, when Giuliani said the worker whacked him on his back at around 3:20 p.m. 

"I got hit on the back as if a boulder hit me," Giuliani said in a Monday morning video posted on his Facebook page. "It knocked me forward a step or two. It didn't knock me down, but it hurt tremendously."

Giuliani, a 78-year-old Republican, said the man who struck him shouted "dirty curse words" at him and called him a "woman killer" whose "party kills women."

Video footage captured the incident, which shows a man slapping Giuliani on the back before walking away. 

 

The NYPD told Insider that Gill slapped Giuliani on the mid-back while stating, "What's up, scumbag?" 

Giuliani previously said the incident could have resulted in him falling, cracking his skull and dying. 

"I mean, suppose I was a weaker 78-year-old and I hit the ground, cracked my skull, and died," said Giuliani, who was former President Donald Trump's personal attorney.

In a statement to Insider, Wakefern Food Corporation said, "We are aware that an incident instigated by a store associate involving former Mayor Rudy Giuliani took place at our store on Staten Island on Sunday. Store security observed the incident, reacted swiftly and the police were notified."

The company added, "We have zero tolerance for aggression toward anyone."

The suspect, who has worked at the Staten Island ShopRite since 2017, was "suspended pending termination," according to the company. 

Gill, a Staten Island resident, was taken into custody after the incident and Giuliani refused medical attention at the scene, the NYPD said. 

Meanwhile, prosecutors downgraded the charges against Gill, who the NYPD told Insider has no other prior arrests on his record. 

He was arraigned in Staten Island Criminal Court on Monday on misdemeanor charges of assault in the third-degree, menancing in the third-degree and harrassment in the second-degree. 

A judge released Gill without bail. 

Giuliani told investigators that the impact from the slap caused him to "stumble forward," resulting in pain and swelling to his back, according to a criminal complaint. 

Gill is being represented by the Legal Aid Society in the case, which said on Monday that Giuliani had exaggerated the incident.

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