Trump supporter tries running over workers campaigning for Harris, MI official says

Volunteers campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris were nearly ran over by a man who said he would “exterminate” them if former President Donald Trump wins the presidency, Michigan authorities say.

Members of the St. Clair Shores Democratic Club were set up in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Bruce Post parking lot Oct. 12 volunteering in support of Harris, WJBK reported.

A man, later identified as 55-year-old Jason Lynch Lafond, went to the parking lot looking for campaign materials for Trump, according to a Nov. 1 news release from the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office. The volunteers told the man the tent was for the Harris campaign, not for Trump.

“Lafond allegedly shouted derogatory slurs, including ones targeting sexual orientation,” officials said. “He further said that when Trump wins, he will ‘exterminate’ people like them.”

When Lafond got back into his vehicle, he accelerated toward the volunteers, who were nearly struck and had to jump out of the way, the prosecutor’s office said.

Melissa Crook, a volunteer for the Democratic club, told WWJ she thought she “was about to die.”

“I thought this man was going to kill me,” she told the news outlet. “I still don’t know how he was able to stop his car that fast because it’s not an electric vehicle, but he did, and I’m thankful that he did, but I thought that was it and I would never see my loved ones again.”

Lafond fled the scene, officials said, but he was later identified following a “thorough investigation.” He was charged with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and three counts of ethnic intimidation, according to the prosecutor.

He was jailed on a $50,000 bond and is due in court Friday, Nov. 8, officials said.

“This alleged assault was not just an assault on the victims. It was an assault on the rights of the victims to express themselves freely and safely, and impacts our entire community,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said in a statement. “Acts of violence, assaults or harassment based on someone’s identity have no place here. It threatens our democracy and the exercise of free speech in a fair and secure election.”

St. Clair Shores is about a 20-mile drive northeast from Detroit.

This story was originally published November 4, 2024 at 12:46 PM with the headline "Trump supporter tries running over workers campaigning for Harris, MI official says."