Police say there is no evidence to back up GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's claim that a protestor intentionally rammed his care in Iowa in retaliation after an exchange on the campaign trail.
Ramaswamy was visiting a coffee shop in Grinnell, Iowa, during a presidential campaign visit, when he claims he was met by a small group of protestors.
“Had a civil exchange with protestors today, right before two of them then got into their car & rammed it into ours,” Ramaswamy posted online. “Those two should be held accountable, but the rest of the peaceful protestors shouldn’t be tarred by the behavior of two bad actors.”
Ramaswamy’s campaign claimed that some protestors swore at him before two entered a car and reversed into the candidate’s car.
The Grinnell Police Department released a statement following Thursday’s incident saying a 22-year-old Grinnell resident “accidentally made contact with” Ramaswamy’s car. The impact “caused minor damage to both vehicles,” the police said.
The police department said it issued the media release after the incident to clarify information circulating on social media. Per its investigation, only one woman was in the car that hit Ramaswamy’s, the person had no knowledge that the vehicle was associated with the campaign and she did not flee the scene.
The woman received a traffic summons for unsafe backing. Both cars had minor damage, police said.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for Ramaswamy, told The Associated Press that the campaign stands by its assessment that the driver was a protestor and that there were two people in the car.
Ramaswamy went ahead with his scheduled campaign events that evening but later sent a fundraising email, detailing the events of the crash and asked his supporters to “stand for free speech,” the AP reported.
