Gilbert Police have charged 51-year-old Stephen Hunsaker with two counts of Disorderly Conduct and one count of Criminal Trespass in the 3rd degree, a class 3 misdemeanor, for his role in disrupting the LD14 Republican Committee meeting last week.
For his part in the same disturbance, Gilbert PD also charged 50-year-old Nathan Hunsaker, husband of LD14 candidate Lalani Hunsaker, with Assault, a class 3 misdemeanor, two counts of Disorderly Conduct, a class 1 misdemeanor, and Criminal Trespass in the 3rd degree, a class 3 misdemeanor.
Both Hunsakers reportedly charged the stage while State Representative Laurin Hendrix was speaking, alarming audience members.
Fortunately for Hendrix, they were intercepted by the district chairman, Andrew Adams.
The confrontation was moved outside and, according to security footage, Hunsaker’s husband angrily headbutted Adams while he was attempting to defuse the situation.
“It is hard to believe that we are just a couple of days after Trump was almost assassinated and these people still can’t control their tempers.” said one Republican precinct committeeman, “Lalani is running for office, and we’ve got a nice community here. She can’t have her family members assaulting opponents or Republican party officials.”
Lalani Hunsaker, a candidate for State House in the district, was active in the media and on social media, angrily denying that there had been any sort of assault and trying to place the blame on Hendrix and other candidates in the race.
Monday’s arrests came after the police reviewed the camera footage and gathered statements from witnesses.
“Lalani flat out lied to people, pretending they didn’t assault Adams and disrupt that meeting,” said one angry Republican. “Now everyone can see the evidence, and this is incredibly and deservedly very embarrassing for Lalani.”
According to people familiar with the race, the race has been largely positive, although Hunsaker has been taking some hits for the years she spent working for Nevada Senate Democrat Harry Reid, and some of the campaigns she ran or helped run against local Arizona conservatives.
For her part, Hunsaker has been attacking Hendrix’s vote to cut funding for the Arizona Commerce Authority and her supporters have been encouraging voters in the district to #BreakTheSlate, referring to the team of Warren Petersen, Laurin Hendrix and Khyl Powell.
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