While a debate among the candidates for Virginia Attorney General focused on violent rhetoric, a debate watch party in Arlington descended into physical violence.
Police were called to Mister Days on N. Highland Street around 6:45 p.m. Thursday after a fight broke out at the debate watch party held by the Arlington County Republican Committee. A video posted online, which includes explicit language, shows a man being restrained and ordered to leave the restaurant while a female companion records the incident and is later also ordered to leave.
“At approximately 6:47 p.m. on September 16, police were dispatched to the 1100 block of N. Highland Street for the report of an assault,” Arlington County Police Department spokesperson Kiyah Daniell tells ARLnow. “Upon arrival, it was determined four individuals, three males and one female, who are known to each other, were involved in a physical altercation in a business following a verbal dispute.”
“No injuries were reported,” Daniell added. “No parties involved are seeking prosecution at this time.”
Matthew Hurtt, the chair of the local GOP, alleges that the two people removed from the restaurant have harassed him at previous public events, after he spoke out against a party one of them organized that later drew negative headlines.
The pro-Trump event, held at a venue near Rosslyn, drew comparisons to the infamous Fyre Festival after reportedly not delivering on some of its lofty promises.
“For months, I have been the victim of two stalkers,” Hurtt told ARLnow in an email shortly after the incident. “They hosted an event earlier this year where they misled people about the nature of the event. Given that they held the event in Arlington, I felt compelled to let Arlington Republicans know it was a grift.”
“They came into the Arlington GOP AG Debate Watch Party tonight to cause trouble,” Hurtt continued. “When I told the owner, he escorted me out the back through the kitchen, where they confronted me. I walked into a secured space and they returned to Mister Days, where they caused a scene.”
In a later post on social media, Hurtt noted that “we will have security at our next Arlington GOP meeting” later this month.
“I am safe and am pursuing a Temporary Protective Order (TPO) against these two,” he said.
Photo via Bruce Majors/X
