A man who authorities say tried to pull a switchblade on a Republican candidate in California shouted profanities about President Trump and the Republican Party before the assault, the candidate said.
Congressional candidate Rudy Peters said he was at a booth Sunday at the Castro Valley Fall Festival when the man shouted expletives about Trump and raised his middle finger.
Alameda County prosecutors on Tuesday charged Farzad Fazeli, 35, with a felony count of making criminal threats and misdemeanor counts of exhibiting a deadly weapon and possessing a switchblade. Fazeli was released from custody after posting bond.
"It's a shame," Peters told the San Francisco Chronicle. "People are just polarized right now, and this country's divided and it's just a mess. It shouldn't be that way."
Peters said the man initially seemed to be walking away from the booth.