From what I can see, the thug stood near the reporter as he asked his question, then walked around to the reporter's back. As Coakley walked up the sidewalk with the reporter walking behind her with his micro-recorder held high, the thug hockey-checked the reporter from behind on the reporters right, shoving him into the low restaurant railing (which could be plainly seen) then picked the reporter up not to help him but to intimidate him. The the thug then continued to body-check the reporter from the front but the reporter stayed on his feet.
The thug should be charged.
Actually this is what should have been done when Jim Webb's Macaca guy kept getting up in George Allen's face.
Now that we see the Democrats doing it, I guess we can up the ante