Off-duty Rhode Island officer working for state Senate accused of attacking opponent at abortion rally
An off-duty Rhode Island police officer who was working for state Senate is beneath investigation for allegedly attacking his feminine opponent throughout an abortion rights protest Friday evening.
Jennifer Rourke, who’s working for the state’s twenty ninth District, stated she had completed talking at a rally outdoors the state home in Windfall when she was attacked by officer Jeann Lugo.
The assault was partially captured on video by journalist Invoice Bartholomew with the Bartholomewtown Podcast.
“I’m a reproductive rights organizer & State Senate candidate. Final evening, after talking at our Roe rally, my Republican opponent — a police officer — violently attacked me,” Rourke wrote in a Twitter submit that included the video.
“That is what it’s to be a Black girl working for workplace. I gained’t quit.”
The video seems to indicate a person throwing two punches at a girl, hitting her as soon as within the head. A marketing campaign spokesperson informed CNBC that Rourke went to the hospital for a CT scan.
The Windfall Police Division stated it launched a legal investigation into the incident and positioned Lugo on paid administrative depart pending the result of the investigation and an administrative assessment.
Lugo, who has been with the division for 3 years, briefly addressed the incident on Twitter. “I can’t be working for any workplace this fall,” he posted. He was working for District 29 as a Republican.
Lugo and Rourke couldn’t instantly be reached Saturday for remark.
Lugo stated in a press release to CNBC that he was in “a scenario that no particular person ought to see themselves in” and tried to “defend somebody {that a} group of agitators was attacking.”
“At this second, there’s a pending inside investigation, and because the details of the incident come to mild, I request that my household and I’ve privateness,” he stated.
Windfall was simply one among many cities within the nation that noticed protesters take to the streets after the Supreme Courtroom overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that assured a constitutional proper to abortion.