Dems Try to Make Points From Manchester Bar Fight

The East Manchester Fish and Game Club is a small windowless building with a members-only sign on the front door.

The East Manchester Fish and Game Club is a small windowless building with a members-only sign on the front door.

On June 18, a fight broke out at the club, according to police.

They received a call about the incident about three days after the fight, which sent one man to the hospital.

Police aren't saying who called them or much else at the moment.

They say the incident is under investigation.

Mayor Frank Guinta and Alderman Mike Garrity were at the club that night, along with the alderman's brother, State Rep. Pat Garrity.

Alderman Garrity told the Union Leader that his friend Thomas English jumped him.

His brother Pat Garrity stepped into the fracas, and the friend ended up with a broken leg.

Will Infantine, chairman of the Manchester Republicans, says the headlines have all been wrong so far.

INFANTINE: It should be "Alderman attacked by friend." It has very little to do with the mayor. I have spoken with him. I do know, He did tell me what happened. The mayor was not even paying attention. He said it happened very quickly. He was sending a text message to somebody when the whole thing happened. He didn't see it. Quite frankly, I think it's being fueled by people who feel he is a threat to Carol Shea Porter.

The family of Thomas English has their own version of the story and have faulted Guinta and Garrity for how they handled things.

With details still murky, one thing is clear: The story has gained some political traction.

PAPPAS: To see the mayor mixed up in something like this, I think it's unbecoming of the mayor of the city of Manchester.

That's Chris Pappas, head of the Manchester Democrats. Pappas says he's witholding judgment until more details emerge.

Pappas: I think there are some questions raised here, and I think the mayor probably has to publically address them and answer some of these either rumors or provide more details as to his role in this incident and why he didn't initially call the police if the situation warranted it and why he first thought of himself and getting out of there.

The state Democratic party has been harsher.

Party press releases have noted Guinta’s past tough stance on violence in some downtown bars but accuse him of waiting to report the assault.

And they call his behavior unacceptable for the city's highest elected official.

Guinta has said he called the police about six days after the incident when he learned of English's injuries.

Guinta's Congressional campaign office says the mayor is on vacation and cannot be reached for comment.

But in a written statement, the campaign says the mayor left the scene only when the situation was under control and that he had gone there with his friend Alderman Garrity, who was trying to help what he calls a troubled individual.

Guinta also accuses some members of the democratic party of exploiting the incident to divert attention from Representative Carol Shea-Porter’s record.

Democrat and City Alderman Peter Sullivan says he considers Guinta a friend.

SULLIVAN:This is the sort of silly tempest in a teapot issue that really sours people on politics, and it's something that Manchester, sadly, has become infamous for over the years -- taking people's private lives really and finding something that's very peripheral to their political life and blowing it out of proportion and trying to use it as a political weapon. That's what keeps good people from running for office.

Sullivan says his party should, in his words, back off on the current controversy and stick to the issues.

City GOP Chair Will Infantine says he's tried to keep his party from descending into personal attacks.

But he adds, he’s taken some heat for his approach.

Infantine: Some people have said I'm not tough enough. Some have said to me you need to go after these people personally. I won't do it. I'm trying to step it up a little in this city.

Alderman Sullivan meanwhile says he may support Democrat Carol Shea-Porter in her reeletion bid, but he also supported Frank Guinta's run for mayor.

And, like Infantine, he thinks the Democratic party’s attempts to make points from the current controversy will backfire.

For NHPR News in Manchester, I'm EG.