A masked intruder stormed into the Massachusetts Republican Party headquarters in Woburn, Massachusetts, Wednesday and began calling staffers and volunteers "fascists," terrifying those present with violent threats.
Police are investigating after the man, identified by MassGOP as defense attorney and Democratic Party donor Hugh Samson, allegedly threatened to "come back with a weapon" after he was asked to leave.
No arrests have been made as of Wednesday night, according to the Boston Herald, but police reportedly said they are looking into the man's "mental health."
“It’s nuts,” MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons said. “If this was a Republican breaking into a Democratic headquarters, this story wouldn’t stop. It would be going on all day long.”
Lyons was not present when the incident occurred, but he told the Herald that the communications director, a volunteer, and a handful of other staffers were at the office when a man wearing a pink mask burst in around 1 p.m. and pointed a camera at staffers.
MassGOP said in a statement that Samson entered their offices and demanded to take staffers photos. When he was asked to leave, he then allegedly demanded to know why staffers weren't wearing masks inside their offices, calling it "a violation of the state mandate."
Wendy Wakeman, one of the individuals present, told the "Howie Carr Show" Wednesday the whole thing was "crazy."
“I asked, ‘What are you doing?’ He was all dressed up with a pink mask on ... I told him, ‘You just barged into my office.'"
She said he told her he wanted to talk about the Jan. 6 "insurrection" in Washington D.C.
“We were like a human wall trying to push him out, and he starts dropping the F-bomb and yelling at us that we were ‘fascists,'” she said. “It was crazy ... A woman from another office came out and was shaken. She saw him walk in.”
“It is scary to be sitting in your office and having a normal day and have a lunatic walk in,” she added.
MassGOP said that police responded immediately when called to the office. Lyons thanked the Woburn Police Department for quickly sending an officer to the scene.
He also said the timing of the incident was curious, noting that just hours before the man showed up Gov. Charlie Baker (R) announced that the statewide mask mandate for Massachusetts public schools would expire at the end of the month.
“People are done with the government overreach,” Lyons said. “They want to be able to live their lives normally again, and people like this individual who threatened my staff today are obviously distraught over the likelihood of that happening.”
“Republicans are for giving people their lives back and somehow that’s what prompts left-wingers like our unannounced visitor to call us ‘fascists,'” he added.
Post a Comment