A 2016 Democratic congressional nominee and 2019 Democratic candidate for Fort Wayne, Indiana mayor was arrested for criminal mischief just hours after the polls closed in that race.
Tommy Schrader, who struggles with homelessness but was twice won Democrat primaries, was arrested Tuesday evening after employees of a local hot dog shop witnessed him vandalizing benches with obscenities and a swastika.
Fort Wayne’s local NBC affiliate reports “Employees at Jeff’s Coney say they observed Schrader walking back and forth in front of their business holding a purple teddy bear. They say someone came into the store and said they saw Schrader vandalizing the benches outside their business with obscenities and symbols of hate.”
He had just finished third in a three-way race for the Democratic nomination for Fort Wayne mayor, with only 2.7 percent. Polls closed just hours before he was arrested.
Photographs taken by the employees show Schrader drew a swastika on the forehead of a photographed black woman on a bus stop ad. He also wrote an obscene phrase on the head of the black man in the photo.
He was booked into the Allen County Jail, charged and released on his own recognizance.
Schrader announced his 2019 bid for mayor in an interview with WANE that appears to have been shot in an alleyway, in which he was chugging a can of Old Style beer.
It isn’t the first time Schrader, who has won two elections despite often being homeless, has been picked up by police after losing a race.
Local CBS affiliate WANE reports he was nearly arrested in 2014 after losing a bid for the Democratic nomination for Indiana’s 3rd Congressional district.
“He showed up at the Allen County Republican Party headquarters. Later, when some candidates were speaking at the podium, Schrader started shouting in the back of the room,” WANE reports. “Police showed up and put him in the back of their squad car, but officers say there was no arrest and they didn’t file a report.”
“It was fun, exhilarating, and maybe I had a couple too many to drink,” Schrader told WANE.
Despite that arrest, two years later Schrader defeated two other Democrats for the party’s congressional nomination, taking 38 percent in a three-way race. He would lose to Republican Jim Banks by 47 percent.
In 2018 he attempted to win re-nomination as the Democratic candidate for Congress, but finished second in a three-way race with 10.7 percent.
AAN Staff
The staff at American Action News are consummate professionals, who when not producing original, hard-hitting content, are scouring the internet to bring you the unfiltered news that matters to you! Our mission is to maximize your experience on our website. If we can ever be of assistance, please do not hesitate to let us know!
