Brad Parscale, the former campaign manager for Donald Trump , was reportedly taken to a hospital on Sunday under the state’s Baker Act after barricading himself inside his home with a gun and threatening to harm himself.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that Parscale’s wife called 911 on Sunday to say that the 44-year-old had guns and was threatening to harm himself. The report noted that police responded to the home in the 2300 block of Desota Drive in Fort Lauderdale’s Seven Isles community on Sunday evening, noting that public records showed the home belonged to Bradley and Candice Parscale.
Police said that he did not threaten responding officers and surrendered to them willingly under the state’s Baker Act, which allows authorities to detain a person who may be threatening to hurt themselves or others.
“We went out and it was very short,” said Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Karen Dietrich. “We went and got him help.”
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said he was alerted of the tense situation, and said he was happy that it resolved quickly and without anyone being hurt.
“Politics aside, this fellow obviously suffers from emotional distress,” said Trantalis, adding, “I’m glad he didn’t do any harm to himself or others I commend our SWAT team for being able to negotiate a peaceful ending to this.”
As The Inquisitr reported, Parscale led Trump’s re-election effort until earlier this summer, when he was demoted from the post following a disappointing return to the trail with a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that failed to meet expectations. After Parscale had taken to social media to brag that more than 1 million people registered for tickets to the event, a final tally showed that close to 6,000 actually showed up.
Following his demotion, reports indicated that Parscale was upset at the development. A report from Politico claimed that he was emotional during the 20-minute meeting in which he was told that he would be returning to a role as senior adviser for digital and data operations.
The report added that Parscale had rubbed some the wrong way by taking on too large of a stature.
“Some people close to the campaign said they felt Parscale erred by making himself a public figure, aggressively promoting himself on social media and at one point appearing in an advertisement,” Politico claimed.
Statement from the Trump campaign’s communications director Tim Murtaugh on tonight’s terrible news pic.twitter.com/PCa5QaUMsK
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) September 28, 2020
The Trump campaign issued a statement on the news, saying they are supporting Parscale and are taking aim at what they saw as unfair attacks.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. For readers outside the U.S., visit Suicide.org or Befrienders Worldwide for international resources you can use to find help.
