No charges filed against man who punched Fox News contributor on video

Prosecutors in Michigan will not pursue assault charges stemming from the December 2012 encounter between Fox News contributor Stephen Crowder and union demonstrators.

The Lansing State Journal reported on Tuesday that Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III decided not to pursue a case after watching unedited video of Crowder's appearance at a protest against right-to-work legislation, which culminated in Crowder getting punched in the face.

Crowder filed a police report and claimed he was assaulted, saying in interviews that he was "beat down" and that protesters "literally would have killed me where I stood if I defended myself." He also published an edited version of the confrontation online.

But after watching both that video and a longer, unedited account of the incident as aired on Current TV, Dunnings said, "It's pretty clear the person that they wanted to charge was acting in self-defense." In the longer video, the man who punched Crowder was pushed by an unseen person before striking him, giving the encounter a different context.

"I'm not holding that against him, but why would they provide the edited video?" Dunnings said. "The longer video clearly shows the guy got pushed down and came up swinging."