A candidate for House District 27 claims he was attacked Tuesday while campaigning at a Walmart in Arab.
Billy Ray Todd told 1819 News he was speaking to potential voters at the store when he approached a woman to tell her about his campaign.
The two engaged in a conversation that quickly turned into an argument when she disagreed with Todd’s conservative values, particularly regarding education and transgender issues.
“She told me first, straight up, she’s a ‘super liberal.’ So I knew then, but she wanted to conversate,” he said in a video posted to X. “The conversation was decent for a second, but I told her we don’t need wokeness in our schools. We don’t need transgender studies in our schools. Kids need to know the truth.”
Todd said that’s when the woman became more hostile.
“Each time she kept coming back toward me she was very aggressive," he continued. "She ran up to me one time; I believe she was sizing me up. Then, when she backed off, she charged, full charge, and she was coming for my face."
Todd said he put his arm up to protect his face. He then pulled her to the ground and held her until security arrived.
Todd sustained a couple of bloody scratches on his arm, apparently from where the woman grabbed him during the struggle, he said.
Arab police were called to the scene, and officers took Todd’s and the woman’s statements along with any eyewitness accounts.
“Her statements were pretty much the same as his,” Arab Police Chief Shane Washburn told 1819 News. “The only thing, she said that he kept following her before the incident, but footage showed otherwise. That was not the case. He was walking away from her. She walked up to him and grabbed his shirt around the collar.”
Todd told 1819 News he planned to file charges against the woman on Wednesday. Washburn said Tuesday that since no officer had witnessed the altercation and charges were yet to be filed, they could not release the name of the woman allegedly involved.
To connect with the story's author or comment, email daniel.taylor@1819news.com or find him on Twitter and Facebook.
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