Ethiopian Review

The Republican Party chairman of Boise County in Idaho was arrested Thursday for aggravated assault after he pulled a gun on a man whose house he was photographing.

Charles McAffee, 33, was among Idaho’s anti-tax tea-party activists, and is a member of the Idaho Republican Party Central Committee. He was arrested after pulling a handgun on a homeowner whose mortgage his employer sought to photograph for being delinquent. His employer is a contractor for Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo called McAffee’s behavior “horrific and absolutely inexcusable.” Via AP:

According to police in the Boise suburb of Meridian, resident Robert Lutes called officers just before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to report McAffee had pointed a .357 Magnum handgun at him during a verbal confrontation. McAffee acknowledged he pointed the gun at Lutes, according to the police account.

“I’m unarmed, I’m an old man,” Lutes, 51, told The Associated Press on Thursday. “I’m trying to find out why he’s taking pictures of my house. I said, ‘Knock on my door, let me know what you want.’ Then, I think he’s reaching for his business card and he pulls out a concealed weapon and I think he’s going to blow my head off.”

Idaho’s Republican Party told the Associated Press the arrest of one of its leaders was a “personal matter.”

“It’s not a party matter,” Jonathan Parker, state GOP director in Boise, told AP.

One of McAffee’s supporters said the homeowner’s account was false:

“McAffee brandished the weapon to de-escalate the conflict,” he asserted.

Yes, you read that right: he pulled a gun to de-escalate the conflict.

- By John Byrne | Raw Story