In a case of he said-he said, Mississippi’s Clarionledger.com reported that former congressman Chip Pickering, a “family-values” Republican from Mississippi who served 12 years in the US House of Representatives, was involved in a fight with a soccer coach after a youth soccer game.
According to the article, Pickering was upset by what he thought was verbal abuse heaped on his son by Christopher Hester:
…Hester, who coaches a South Madison County Soccer League team, contends the former congressman pulled him from his vehicle as he was trying to leave. The men scuffled and had to be pulled apart by spectators … Hester, a nurse who coaches 10- and 11-year-olds, played against Pickering’s son’s team at Liberty Park on Sunday. Pickering approached Hester about the way his son was treated, and the incident escalated from there.
For his part, Pickering maintains that:
Hester “verbally abused and physically intimated my son, visibly upsetting my son to the point of uncontrollable crying. I approached the coach, who was sitting in his vehicle, and asked him to not address my son in such a manner again. I did not say anything further to him, nor did I ever threaten him.” Pickering said Hester then removed his seat belt and exited the SUV, “attacking and assaulting me, and I was forced to defend myself by restraining him.”
While the ex-Congressman has asked the Mississippi State Soccer Association to suspend Hester, it appears Pickering, who already is going through a divorce and probably will spend some time in court over custody issues, may have another court date in his future.
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