General
Michigan Man Ran Over 80-Year-Old Putting Up Trump Signs, Police Say
The suspect killed himself after a series of politically motivated incidents, including one that left the 80-year-old victim critically injured, law enforcement officials said.
A man in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula ripped out yard signs supporting former President Donald J. Trump and then used an all-terrain vehicle to run over an 80-year-old man who was putting them back up, the local authorities said. The attack on Sunday left the victim in critical condition.
The incident, which occurred just over a week after an assassination attempt on Mr. Trump, was one of three involving the suspect this weekend in the small town of Hancock, Mich., the authorities said. The suspect also used a shovel to destroy the windows of a parked truck with a sticker supporting Mr. Trump, and vandalized the tires of a parked vehicle that had a sign supporting law enforcement.
The suspect, whose name was not released, lived in the area. Tami Sleeman, the Hancock police chief, said the man, who was 22, left a message with the Police Department saying he wanted to confess to an attack, but killed himself before officers arrived at his home just outside the city limits.
The violence was an alarming and unwelcome intrusion of political toxicity in a place where local officials said people generally got along, despite political differences.
“We’re just hoping and praying for a better, more civil discourse, not only in Houghton County, but at the national level; that we can get through this election cycle without any violence towards any political candidates at all,” said the county sheriff, Joshua B. Saaranen.
Chief Sleeman and Sheriff Saaranen said there was no indication that anyone else was involved in the attacks, but they said the investigation was continuing. Officers took electronics from the suspect’s home while executing a search warrant, and the F.B.I. was contacted.
Political tension is hardly new in Michigan, a swing state that both Mr. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris hope to carry in November and where both parties campaign aggressively. In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, federal officials arrested several men who they said were plotting to kidnap and possibly kill Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat. Some of those men were ultimately convicted, while others were acquitted.
But presidential candidates rarely make it to Hancock, which has a population of about 4,500 and is roughly 550 miles by car from Detroit. Neither the police chief nor the sheriff could recall a similar act of political violence in the area.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
