A car with a bumper sticker critical of former President Donald Trump crashed through the windows of a pro-Trump store in Easton, Massachusetts.
The incident occurred late Thursday afternoon at a building near 620 Washington Street (Route 138).
The “New England for Trump” store was situated on the building’s west end, the Easton Police Department said, according to a post on the police department’s Facebook page.
Footage of the ordeal was filmed by the store’s security cameras and shared by the Easton Police Department.
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When officers responded to the scene at around 5:10 p.m. that day, they found a 2015 Volkswagen Jetta had crashed through the shop’s front windows.
Only one employee was inside the store at the time of the incident. Fortunately, the employee was unharmed by the incident, according to authorities.
“Just before he did that, there was a little boy with his mother shopping right in that spot,” Keith Lambert, the store’s owner, told WCVB-TV. “The clerk was about to go to the bathroom and he would’ve gotten hit.”
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“Thank God nobody got hurt, that’s all I can say,” Lambert added.
Photographs taken by photographer Marc Vasconcellos showed a cartoon image of Trump on the Volkswagen’s bumper.
The words “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” attributed to Voltaire were placed on top of the portrait of the nation’s 45th president.
Car crashes into New England for Trump store, 620 Washington Street, Easton. pic.twitter.com/XtHQjpPkYo
— Marc Vasconcellos (@PhotogMarc_ent) June 17, 2022
The caricature featured a barcode on Trump’s upper lip, indicating an attempt by the sticker artist to make Trump appear like Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
Forty-six-year-old Sean Flaherty was in the driver’s seat of the Volkswagen at the time of the crash. Flaherty was later taken to the Good Samaritan Medical Center, police said.
The Raynham resident did not suffer from any life-threatening injuries, according to the local police department.
“At this time Flaherty has been charged reckless operation of a motor vehicle and malicious destruction of property,” Deputy Police Chief Keith Boone said. Flaherty might face additional charges as well, according to Boone.
Officer Chris Aker has been assigned to investigate the crash, Boone said.
“A request was also made to the Registry of Motor Vehicles to revoke Flaherty’s license as an immediate threat,” Boone further stated.
The Thursday crash comes weeks after the Department of Homeland Security warned in a June 7 National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin that the nation could witness increased political violence, including violence against “perceived ideological opponents” in the coming months.
“As the United States enters mid-term election season this year, we assess that calls for violence by domestic violent extremists directed at democratic institutions, political candidates, party offices, election events, and election workers will likely increase,” the bulletin stated.
