An attempted firebombing of the Dickinson County Republican Party headquarters on Saturday has led to the arrest of a 19-year-old Iron Mountain man, who Michigan Republican Party Chair Jim Runestad on Tuesday called “a liberal Antifa scumbag” while reacting to the incident.
The Iron Mountain Police Department on Monday said that they arrested Zayn Edward Arcand on charges of arson and manufacturing and possessing a Molotov cocktail after receiving a report of a suspicious person in the area of 617 N. Stevenson Ave., which is the location of the Dickinson GOP headquarters.
The caller observed the individual attempting to light a rag sticking out of a glass bottle, then throwing the unlit bottle at the building.
Video surveillance footage of the incident shows that the suspect, later determined to be Arcand, could not get the bottle to light and instead threw it at the building, causing it to shatter.
Police identified Arcand, visited his home and interviewed him. He told police that he made the bottles in his driveway and threw them at the building “to send a message against corruption,” police said in a news release issued Monday.
Runestad told Michigan Advance on Tuesday that it was his hope that law enforcement and the courts continue to go after violent offenders with political motives.
He also noted that there were two shattered Molotov cocktail devices found at the scene.
“So often I see them treat them with kid gloves,” Runestad said. “This kind of violent extremist action has got to be made an example of.”
EXCUSE ME, JANUARY 6th?! 😡 —Editor
On social media, Runestad was less diplomatic with the alleged offender.
The Dickinson County Republican Committee said the attempted attack’s folly was “due to the incompetence of the suspect and no significant damage was done.”
“We are grateful to God that no one was injured and continue to pray for all involved,” the party wrote in a news release issued Sunday.
This post contains content that was first published on Michigan Advance and republished here under a Creative Commons License.
