According to a report by the Anchorage Police Department, the head of Joe Miller’s security team for his town hall last Sunday couldn’t identify who Alaska Dispatch editor Tony Hopfinger allegedly assaulted before the private security guards handcuffed and detained him.
William Fulton, head of DropZone security, had alleged that he detained Hopfinger after the journalist pushed someone up against a locker. Hopfinger had been trying to question and videotape the Republican Senate nominee when the security team asked him to stop. Hopfinger says he was then pushed, and began to push back before he was detained.
But, according to the Dispatch, the APD report says that neither the police, several witnesses interviewed by the police, nor even Fulton himself could identify the victim of Hopfinger’s alleged pushing. Sgt. Mark Rein, who wrote the report, said: “Fulton then said that he wanted to make an arrest for assault because Hopfinger pushed a man into a locker. I asked him to let me talk to this person. Fulton said that he didn’t know who it was, but that he would find him. I gave Fulton 10 minutes to find the unknown assault victim, but none was forthcoming.”
Rein also writes that Fulton asked that Hopfinger be arrested for “trespassing,” and “told me that he needed me to complete the arrest for his insurance. I told him that I would not be taking action based on insurance.”
The TPM Poll Average shows Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) leading with 36.7%, Miller with 36.0%, and Scott McAdams (D) with 25.5%.
Full coverage of the town hall incident here.
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