ALBUQUERQUE, N.M — A New Mexico sheriff who is running for mayor of Albuquerque was punched at a campaign event by a man who police say first tried to disrupt the event by flying a drone with a sex toy attached to it around the candidate while he was stage.
Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales’ campaign said the Democrat was unharmed and “will not be intimidated.”
The Albuquerque Journal reported that a video of the event on posted on Facebook shows Gonzales answering questions from the audience while standing on a stage at an events center when the drone bearing the sex toy started buzzing near the stage.
A sheriff’s office report said the owner of the event center grabbed the device, and the drone’s owner, 20-year-old Kaelan Ashby Dreyer, unsuccessfully tried to grab it back.
The report said Dreyer then turned his attention to Gonzales, swinging his fist and calling him a “tyrant.” A deputy wrote that Dreyer punched Gonzales’ hands and was then removed from the event by deputies.
He has been charged with petty misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor resisting, evading or obstructing an officer.
Dreyer did not have a listed phone number where he could be reached to comment or a listed attorney in court records to comment on his behalf.
