UPDATED Sept. 28, 1:12 p.m. Police confiscated 10 guns from Brad Parscale’s house, and his wife had visible bruising, according to police records obtained by VICE News.
Police said that when officers arrived, Candice Parscale and a realtor were outside the family’s Florida home and that she explained that after a verbal argument, Parscale “manipulated his slide to the rear, loading his firearm in front of her.”
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After fleeing the home, she then heard a loud bang and called the police to report a possible suicide attempt—she said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and has made several comments over the past week threatening suicide—but then realized Parscale hadn’t shot himself when she “heard Bradley ranting and pacing around the residence and the dog barking franticly,” according to one officer’s statement.
Officers reported that Candice Parscale had visible bruising and scratching. “While speaking with Candace Parscale [sp] I noticed several large sized contusions on both of her arms, her cheek and forehead,” officer Steven Smith wrote in the report. “When I asked how she received the bruising, Candace Parscale stated Brad Parscale hits her.” Inside the house, Parscale had six handguns, two rifles, and two shotguns. Police confiscated all of the weapons following the incident.
Contradicting Dietrich’s earlier statements, Parscale allegedly refused to leave, until Fort Lauderdale police officer Christopher Wilson, who called himself a “personal friend” of Parscale, convinced him to leave the house. After Parscale did so, he allegedly ignored officers’ commands to get down on the ground five times.
“Due to the subject disobeying my lawful commands coupled with the subject being substantially larger than I am, Subject approx 6`6″ and wearing shorts with pockets that could easily conceal a firearm, I initiated a double leg takedown,” officer Matthew Moceri said in the report.
Parscale has so far not been charged with any crimes.
Original story: Trump campaign senior adviser Brad Parscale, who until July was the campaign manager for the president’s re-election bid, was sent to the hospital on Sunday after reportedly barricading himself inside his Florida home and threatening to kill himself.
The Fort Lauderdale Police Department said that shortly before 4 p.m. on Sunday, officers responded to a call from Parscale’s wife “in reference to an armed man attempting suicide.”
“When officers arrived on scene, they made contact with the reportee (wife of armed subject) who advised her husband was armed, had access to multiple firearms inside the residence, and was threatening to harm himself,” FLPD said in a statement.
Eventually, police negotiated with Parscale to exit the home and transported him to a local hospital under a Florida law called the Baker Act, which allows for involuntary institutionalization for people in a mental health crisis. Fort Lauderdale police chief Karen Dietrich told the Sun-Sentinel the encounter was “very short” and that Parscale didn’t threaten the cops.
“We went and got him help,” Dietrich said.
Police did not say whether Parscale had been released; the last social media posts he made were on Friday, praising Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to fully reopen the state.
Parscale, 44, was a top aide on Trump’s winning 2016 run and later launched the group America First Policies. He ran the Trump campaign from early 2018 until July, when he was replaced by Bill Stepien, following Trump’s flop June rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and demoted to senior advisor for data and digital operations amid polling that showed Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden.
The Trump campaign released a statement Sunday night claiming without evidence that “Democrats and disgruntled RINOs” caused Parscale to have a mental health crisis.
“Brad Parscale is a member of our family and we all love him. We are ready to support him and his family in any way possible,” communications director Tim Murtaugh said. “The disgusting, personal attacks from Democrats and disgruntled RINOs have gone too far, and they should be ashamed of themselves for what they’ve done to this man and his family.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255_, text TALK to 741741, or visit_ https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org for more information.
Cover: In this Oct. 10, 2019, file photo, Brad Parscale, then-campaign manager for President Donald Trump, speaks during a campaign rally at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Parscale was hospitalized Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020, after he threatened to harm himself, according to Florida police and campaign officials. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
