>> shelby zorotney is an anchor for nbc in steubenville, ohio. she's covering the sentencing that day, and her cameraman captures the scene. the first to respond to the incident is sheriff fred abdullah. >> we didn't hit him, we didn't strike him, nothing like that. i knew and i could just imagine the pain that he was going through, the hurt. >> i have done a lot of sentencing hearings, and i have had family members be terribly upset and terribly angry, but i had never seen a physical altercation between a victim's family member and the defendant. i was terrified for him that he might get hurt as the officers tried to subdue him. and my honest thought was that he might try to kill the defendant. >> others in the courtroom fear the same thing. >> i thought that this was going to be a disaster, and it was. i saw mr. swett's hand moving to try to get to the sheriff's weapon. the sheriff was able to restrain him, and he did not get his hand on the sheriff's weapon, which was holstered. >> clifford can't defend himself. he's handcuffed and remains sil