WATCH: Man With Anti-Trump Bumper Sticker Charged For Driving Car Into ‘New England for Trump’ Merch Store
A man driving a car with an anti-Donald Trump bumper sticker was charged after he smashed through a shop that exclusively sold Trump merchandise on Thursday.
The incident occurred in the community of Easton just after 5 p.m. ET, according to a report from Boston.com.
Police said 46-year-old Sean Flaherty was driving a 2015 Volkswagen Jetta. He rammed it into the facade of the building.
Video shows he was driving at a high rate of speed and he did not appear to deploy the car’s brakes. A man seen in the store’s security footage was feet away from being struck by the car.
WATCH: Police released video of a car crashing through the front of a Trump store in Easton.
Read more here: https://t.co/qJ6BZT19SS pic.twitter.com/cWvBZBbu6A
— WPRI 12 (@wpri12) June 17, 2022
Audio from the crash shows the driver appeared to be listening to the 1991 Nirvana hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
Jodi Reed of WJAR reported the store’s owner said Flaherty was “hearing voices” that compelled him to drive into the store.
Last night a 45 year old man from Raynham drove his car into a ‘New England for Trump’ store in Easton.
The store owner tells @NBC10 that the man said he was “hearing voices that told him to do it” pic.twitter.com/26PWbNUpQs
— Jodi Reed (@JReedTV) June 17, 2022
Flaherty’s vehicle was decorated with multiple bumper stickers, one of which had Trump’s face on it. The sticker reads, “THOSE WHO CAN MAKE YOU BELIEVE ABSURDITIES CAN MAKE YOU COMMIT ATROCITIES.”
Car crashes into New England for Trump store, 620 Washington Street, Easton. pic.twitter.com/XtHQjpPkYo
— Marc Vasconcellos (@PhotogMarc_ent) June 17, 2022
In a statement, police said the incident was intentional. The Easton Police Department said,
At approximately 5:10pm on Thursday June 16, 2022, Easton Police Officers were dispatched to 620 Washington Street (Route 138) for a reported vehicle crash into a building. Upon arrival, Officers discovered that a 2015 Volkswagen Jetta had crashed into the New England for Trump store located at the west end of the building.
The vehicle was operated by Sean Flaherty, age 46 of Raynham, MA, who was later transported to Good Samaritan Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. One employee who had been in the store at the time, was not injured during the crash.
At this time Flaherty has been charged reckless operation of a motor vehicle and malicious destruction of property. (Additional charges may follow)
