Matthew Arndt, a Green Party candidate in Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District, was reportedly arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct as a hate crime after he allegedly confronted an Israeli father in Mequon, a Milwaukee suburb, on Oct. 8.
Video of the incident appeared to show Arndt shouting profanities at the father, including calling him a “traitor” and yelling “f*** Israel.” The father told the New York Post that he believes he was confronted due to an anti-Hamas bumper sticker on his car.
His young son was in the car during the incident, he said.
Arndt told FOX6 Milwaukee that he was talking about Israel and its government, not Jewish people.
“I am not anti-anyone. I am anti-Israel, and I am anti-the Israel government,” he told the channel.
He acknowledged that he could have chosen his words better but maintained his view.
The Wisconsin Green Party said it supports Palestinian rights and ending U.S. support for the war in Gaza. It added that shouting obscenities at someone in a parking lot does not advance that cause.
The party said it would await the police report before commenting further.
The Federal Election Commission, an independent U.S. agency, didn’t have financial information listed for Arndt. As of July 22, Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), the incumbent, had raised almost $930,000 and had almost $830,000 on hand, per FEC data.
That was well ahead of the next two closest candidates, an independent and a Democrat, each of whom raised about $170,000 and had about $60,000 on hand.
A non-Republican last represented the district in January 1967, about 60 years ago.
On Sept. 21, Arndt stated that “one of our campaigns main priorities is to cut ties with Israel, not just our military, but all of the aid as well.”
When people walked out of the room when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly in September, Arndt stated that “it’s good to see all of these people leaving the room empty, but the real question is why this mass murderer is walking around, a free man, in New York.”
“In a sane society, our country wouldn’t roll out the red carpet for any representative of a country committing genocide,” he wrote.
