Sarah Palin crowd in North Carolina gives reporter a kick

“Dude, some guy just kicked me in the back of the leg.”

Reporter Joe Killian -- not Joe the Plumber

Republican anti-media jeers turned physical Thursday in North Carolina. A McCain-Palin supporter in the midst of a hostile crowd kicked a reporter who was trying to cover a rally in Greensboro featuring Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. “A large, bearded man in full McCain-Palin campaign regalia” sent Greensboro News & Record reporter Joe Killian sprawling with a swift kick to the legs, Killian reports in a blog post.

The incident came after McCaiin-Palin fans observed Killian turning his attention to Obama-Biden supporters who police were ushering away — a scene reminiscent of what Minnesota Independent reporter Paul Demko saw Thursday at rallies featuring Palin’s husband Toddin northern Minnesota. (Demko hasn’t reported facing hostility, however, and in any case is such a soccer freak he probably wears shin guards on a daily basis.)

Here’s the meaty part of Killian’s story, as relayed with interesting context in a blog post by his colleague Mark Binker:

The man began to say something about how of course I was interviewing the Obama people when suddenly, from behind us, the sound of a pro-Obama rap song came blaring out of the windows of a dorm building. We all turned our heads to see Obama signs in the windows.

This was met with curses, screams and chants of “U.S.A” by McCain-Palin folks who crowded under the windows trying to drown it out and yell at the person playing the stereo.

It was a moment of levity in an otherwise very tense situation and so I let out a gentle chuckle and shook my head.

“Oh, you think that ‘s funny?! ” the large bearded man said. His face was turning red. “Yeah, that ‘s real funny…” he said.

And then he kicked the back of my leg, buckling my right knee and sending me sprawling onto the ground.