(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A woman accused of assaulting Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at an event at Miramar Beach, Florida, was arrested over the weekend.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office announced that Selena Chambers, a 41-year-old Tallahassee resident, was arrested and charged with battery on an elected official after she allegedly threw a glass of wine at Gaetz. Local law enforcement issued a $1,000 bond and released the alleged perpetrator the next day.
Gaetz, who was in the presence of his wife, detailed the harrowing assault on Tuesday’s episode of his podcast Firebrand with Matt Gaetz.
“We were enjoying, catching up with new friends,” Gaetz said on a snippet of the podcast shared on Twitter. “As I was chatting with one gentleman, a lady threw a drink on the both of us and she was promptly arrested. I want to thank the great folks at the Walton County Sheriff’s Office who ensured that this did not escalate, and everyone was kept safe.”
The Republican lawmaker defended his decision to press charges, citing the dangers of allowing protestors to assault elected officials.
“I will never allow the safety of Northwest Floridians to be compromised,” Gaetz in a statement released Tuesday. “I will be pressing charges against this individual in order to uphold the civility our community deserves. Thank you to the Walton County Sheriff’s office for taking swift action.”
Chambers, who Gaetz described as a “left-wing author” and a “donor to the Joe Biden presidential campaign,” previously wrote against former President Donald Trump and has voiced support for physical assault against politicians.
“It seems after the 2016 election, based on of her writing, she became very obsessed with Donald Trump, and she began to engage in something called the ‘resistance expression,’” Gaetz said before reading one article written by Saunders where she said, “resistance is expression, and that can take physical form.”
FEC filings showed that Chambers donated $100 earmarked for the Biden campaign and took to Twitter to call on Trump to be “deleted.”
The @WCSOFL is confirming reports that our agency responded to an incident at an event in Miramar Beach Saturday involving Representative Matt Gaetz.
A 41-year-old Tallahassee woman, Selena Chambers, was arrested after it was found she intentionally threw a glass of wine at… pic.twitter.com/ZD9kalzjVM
— Walton Co. Sheriff (@WCSOFL) May 2, 2023
