A woman waving a Trump 2024 flag drove her car onto Minnesota state Capitol grounds Monday in the middle of a news conference being held by an embattled Democratic state lawmaker.
Authorities said that the woman, whom they identified as Tammi Jeka, drove her vehicle on the sidewalk during state Rep. John Thompson’s (D) press conference at the Capitol.
After troopers told her to leave the premises and proceed to the roadway so she could be cited, the woman instead drove onto the lawn, Bruce Gordon, communications director of Minnesota’s Public Safety Department, told NBC News.
The woman at one point parked at a nearby plaza, where she was heard arguing with several people who approached her vehicle, NBC News reported.
Two state troopers took the keys to the vehicle and the woman was put in custody. Police said she was transported to a hospital for evaluation.
Thompson’s press conference was held on the heels of calls for his resignation following past accusations of domestic abuse. Thompson last week was also found guilty of obstruction in a 2019 disturbance.
The state lawmaker said during the news conference that he would not resign, a local CBS affiliate reported. His wife, Lea Thompson, who was present at the press conference and the alleged victim in several domestic violence complaints, also denied that the claims were true.
“I am not now, nor have I ever been an abused woman,” Lea Thompson said, according to CBS affiliate WCCO. “I am not a victim of domestic abuse.”