A Houston man accused of throwing unopened cans at Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) during an Astros World Series championship parade has been no-billed by a grand jury on Friday.
According to court documents, Joseph Arcidiacono launched two unopened 12-ounce White Claw liquor cans at Cruz during the parade.
A viral video of the incident in November showed cans flying toward Cruz, who was wearing an orange shirt as he waved at the crowd. Security on the float moved in to block the cans from hitting the senator. The crowd booed at the suspect for the attack.
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Houston police said Cruz had been struck in the chest and neck area but was not injured by the cans.
Following the incident, the senator thanked the Houston police and Capitol Police for “their quick action” and joked Arcidiacono was a “clown” and “had a noodle for an arm.”
As always I’m thankful for the Houston Police and Capitol Police for their quick action.
I’m also thankful that the clown who threw his White Claw had a noodle for an arm. https://t.co/CRSfNHckA2
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 7, 2022
A witness reportedly stopped Arcidiacono as he tried to run away and walked him over to the police. Arcidiacono allegedly told officers, “I know, I’m an idiot. I’m sorry.”
“Political violence is never acceptable. What happened at the parade was not political violence nor ‘aggravated assault with a deadly weapon,'” said Arcidiacono’s attorney in a statement. “Instead, this was an Astros fan trying to toss drinks from his cooler to the Senator during a championship parade and not realizing how it would be perceived until he saw security’s reaction.”
The lawyer added in the statement, “The night before the parade, Joey texted a friend, ‘My dream would be to throw one of the players a beer. Doubt it would happen haha but that would be epic.'”
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He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and had his bail set at $40,000.
On Friday, the grand jury “failed to find an indictment” and was instead no-billed, according to court documents.
