The unnamed 82-year-old was arrested Monday on suspicion of committing a hate crime, though formal charges had not yet been filed, the Edmonds Police Department told KOMO News.
Body cam footage shows the octogenarian telling police, “I approached her, and I said I want to know why you’re voting for Trump. That’s the only thing. And I said because you’re brown-skinned.”
Trump supporter Gina Powell said the elderly woman got in her face, questioning her race and beliefs, as she and her friend, Mary Jennings, were waving signs and chanting with fellow Trump supporters on a street corner in Edmonds, a city about 15 miles north of Seattle.
“I was just shocked at the presence of mind, and she made it very clear it was my skin color,” Powell said.
Powell said she didn’t notice the woman approach them at first because another woman had stopped to ask the group about their stance on abortion and reproductive rights.
The two friends were trying to console the woman because she started crying when the 82-year-old approached the group and confronted Powell about her skin tone and support for the former president.
“And that’s when she shoved me, pushed me back, and I said, ‘Don’t touch me.’ And then not even a second, she just popped me right in my chin,” said Powell.
The elderly woman told cops her response was to push Powell away and put her hand on her chin. She insisted to police that it wasn’t a hard push, but admitted to cops that she “did do that. I did do that.”
Jennings told the outlet she then stepped in, telling the elderly woman she has “no right to touch anyone.”
“She punched me, she connected, and you know, it slammed my jaw shut,” Jennings said.
Both Jennings and Powell are physically OK but say the assault has had an emotional toll on them.
“I haven’t been able to work yet. I’m still kind of in shock,” Powell said.
The women stressed the need for Democrats and Republicans to come together, instead of allowing their differences to divide them.
“I haven’t been able to work yet. I’m still kind of in shock,” Powell said.
“Not everybody on the left is correct, not everyone on the right is correct, both sides could though bring important information to the center, we can, we need to come together, we can’t continue the division,” said Jennings.
Both women said they would not be deterred by what happened and will continue to support Trump.
“He got shot by a bullet and he said ‘fight, fight, fight,’ I got a little jab in my chin, so I’m not sitting down,” said Powell, referring to the Trump assassination attempt in Bulter County, Pennsylvania last July.
Police said they have established probable cause for a hate crime arrest and that the “suspect continued to show no remorse for the incident and attempted to push an officer while demonstrating how she acted.”
Prosecutors have until the end of the day Thursday to make a charging decision, according to the outlet.
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