What began as a verbal spat between supporters of two rival politicians ended with a man being arrested for allegedly escalating the situation by pulling out a gun.
Joseph Schumacher of West Fargo, North Dakota, was charged Monday afternoon with a felony charge of making terroristic threats and a misdemeanor count of having a loaded gun inside a vehicle without a permit, according to the Washington Post.
Police said that Schumacher spotted a woman’s Elizabeth Warren bumper sticker while driving, pulled his car alongside her and began shouting at her while gesturing at his own sticker that supported President Trump.
The two began exchanging jeers back and forth at each other for about eight blocks as they drove. Moorhead police Captain Deric Swenson said that when the encounter began, Schumacher and the woman appeared to be “having fun with it,” but then the man pulled a loaded gun and waved it at the supporter of the Democratic senator.
Swenson said that despite dealing with road rage in the past, he has never seen an incident stem from political differences.
“I can’t speculate on what the suspect’s intent when he did that was, but, obviously for the victim, it was a fearful situation,” he said of the arrest. “So that’s why he’s facing those charges.”
