Candidate Cop Quits Race After Arrest For Allegedly Punching Female Rival At Roe Protest

A Rhode Island police officer operating for state Senate as a Republican has dropped out of the race after his arrest on costs of punching his Democratic opponent within the face at an abortion protest.

“I cannot be operating for any workplace this fall,” Windfall Officer Jeann Lugo wrote in a tweet Saturday earlier than deactivating his Twitter account.

Lugo, a three-year Windfall police veteran, was positioned on administrative go away, then arrested Saturday by state police after a video appeared to point out him placing his marketing campaign opponent, Jennifer Rourke, at a big protest on the State Home Friday in opposition to the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court docket ruling. Lugo was off obligation on the time.

Lugo, 35, was charged with easy assault and disorderly conduct, state police mentioned in an announcement. He was freed on his personal recognizance after he surrendered at a state police barracks and was arraigned. He’s due in court docket July 8.

The morning after the protest, Rourke, who chairs the progressive Rhode Island Political Cooperative, tweeted that her “Republican opponent — a police officer — violently attacked me. That is what it's to be a Black girl operating for workplace. I received’t quit.”

Earlier than he dropped out, Lugo instructed The Washington Submit in an electronic mail that he had “stepped in to guard somebody that a group of agitators was attacking” on the protest. He provided no different particulars.

Video posted by journalist Invoice Bartholomew reveals abortion rights supporters and opponents arguing in entrance of the State Home Friday evening. Rourke seems to be making an attempt to deescalate the more and more tense scenario. However a battle erupts and Rourke is struck within the face.

She instructed the Windfall Journal that she was hit a minimum of two occasions by Lugo.

One other man and a girl additionally have been arrested through the protest on disorderly conduct costs, police mentioned. The person was charged moreover with carrying a weapon apart from a firearm and resisting arrest.

Extra on the Supreme Court docket abortion ruling:

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