A man allegedly plowed his car into a Republican Party voter registration drive at a shopping center in Florida and flipped off Trump supporters, according to reports.
Gregory Timm, 27, was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, criminal mischief and driving with a suspended license, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced in a Tweet early Sunday.
Timm, behind the wheel of a brown Chevrolet van, allegedly plowed into the tent set up in the Kernan Village Shopping Center in Jacksonville shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, sending people scrambling for safety, the sheriff’s office said.
No injuries were reported.
“It happened so quickly,” Nina Williams, a volunteer, told WJXT. “I just barely got out of the way.”
After slamming into the tents, the driver stopped to take video of the mayhem and “flipped off” the campaign volunteers gathered in a Walmart parking lot before driving off, the TV station reported, citing Lt. Larry Gayle of the sheriff’s office.
“We don’t know if this is politically motivated,” Gayle told the station.
One of the volunteers provided law enforcement pictures of the van driving away.
The Duval County Republican Party tweeted out photos of the aftermath, showing debris strewn about the parking lot, including a Trump/Pence campaign sign.
“Today in Jacksonville, Florida six Trump Campaign volunteers were intentionally targeted while registering voters,” it said in the posting.
Trump and Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, both tweeted about the incident.
“Law Enforcement has been notified. Be careful tough guys who you play with!” the president said on Twitter.
“These unprovoked, senseless attacks on @realDonaldTrump’s supporters need to end. I want to echo the @DuvalGOP in saying: We will not be silenced by cowards, and these disgusting acts will only make us work harder to win November,” McDaniel said.
The Duval County Democratic Party said it condemned “this cowardly act of violence. No one’s life should be placed in danger for exercising their first amendment rights.”
“As Democrats but more importantly residents of this great city of Jacksonville, we call on our fellow citizens to act with dignity, civility and respect for one another during this election cycle and beyond,” it said in another posting.