The suspected neighbor who attacked Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul while the senator was mowing his yard, Rene Boucher, has pleaded “not guilty” to assault charge according to CNN.

Boucher was charged with a misdemeanor assault in the fourth degree at his arraignment in Bowling Green on Thursday.

Paul currently suffers from six broken ribs and a pleural effusion — or build up of fluid in the lungs — due to his neighbor reportedly tackling Paul from behind. The attack appeared to be premeditated.

According to Boucher’s lawyer, Matthew Baker, the attack on Paul was not politically motivated and he is using the defense that the attack was done over a landscaping dispute. If this attack was politically motivated and was a result of Paul’s positions in his career as a senator, then Boucher could wind up in prison for a very long time.

While Boucher and his lawyer maintain that there is no reason to believe the attack was politically motivated, some of Paul’s neighbors are casting doubt that Boucher — a reported socialist with a long history of political disputes over Paul’s father, Ron Paul — attacked Paul purely out of anger over lawn maintenence.