Preston Brooks

Preston Brooks was a Southern, pro-slavery Congressman from South Carolina. He is most famous for attacking Charles Sumner, an abolitionist, IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE BUILDING by hitting him multiple times on the back and head with a walking cane. Sumner suffered brain and spinal cord damage, leaving him unable to attend to his senate duties for months afterwards. Yes, Brooks was reelected.

Today, pulling a Preston Brooks is used as a euphemism for behaving inappropriately violently in a situation in which such behaviour is not deemed acceptable.

"The art teacher gave Michelle a B on her watercolor, so she stabbed him in the eye with a brush. I think he might be permanently blind. I think she got away with it too, because her parents threatened to sue the school."
"Wow, that's some Preston Brooks level shit, man."
"I know."