An off-duty Rhode Island cop who was working for state senate was arrested after allegedly attacking a candidate for a similar seat at an abortion rights rally on Friday.
Jeann Lugo, who was working as a Republican, allegedly punched his Democrat rival Jennifer Rourke a minimum of twice within the face, Rourke informed the Windfall Journal.
Video of the incident, shared by Rourke, seems to indicate the senate hopeful stepping right into a bodily altercation on the protest earlier than she is struck within the head.
“I’m a reproductive rights organizer & State Senate candidate. Final evening, after talking at our Roe rally, my Republican opponent — a police officer — violently attacked me,” Rourke, who's vying to characterize the state Senate’s twenty ninth District, wrote in a tweet alongside the clip.
The video doesn't present what occurred between Lugo, 35, and Rourke, 40, previous to the altercation.
A Rourke marketing campaign rep informed CNBC that she went to the hospital for a CT scan.
Lugo was arrested Saturday on a easy assault and disorderly conduct, NBC Information reported, citing state police. He was arraigned and launched on recognizance after turning himself in.
He didn’t deny the assault in a press release to CNBC.
“As an officer that swore to guard and serve our communities, I, sadly, noticed myself in a state of affairs that no particular person ought to see themselves in,” he stated.
“I stepped in to guard somebody that a group of agitators was attacking. At this second, there’s a pending inner investigation, and because the info of the incident come to mild, I request that my household and I've privateness.”
The Windfall Police Division beforehand introduced Saturday on Twitter that it started a felony investigation into the incident, and positioned Lugo on paid administrative go away “pending a felony investigation and administrative assessment.”
Rourke is in search of the Democratic nomination within the September main to run for the Rhode Island state Senate. Lugo was competing for the Republican nomination for a similar seat.
Early Saturday afternoon, Lugo introduced that he was ending his bid.
“I can't be working for any workplace this fall,” he stated on Twitter, earlier than reportedly deactivating his account.
Windfall Mayor Jorge Elorza referred to as footage of the assault “immensely disturbing.”
“These accountable shall be held totally accountable,” he added in a Twitter put up.
The altercation befell throughout a protest outdoors the Rhode Island State Home in Windfall prompted by the US Supreme Court docket overturning Roe v. Wade — a resolution that ended almost 50 years of federal safety for the process within the US.
The choice was handed down Friday morning — greater than eight weeks after a draft model of the opinion was leaked and printed by Politico.
In response to the choice, demonstrators took to the streets Friday and Saturday throughout the nation.
With Put up wires
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