New Mexico police arrested and charged a man over a confrontation involving a drone equipped with a sex toy at a campaign event, multiple outlets reported on Thursday.
According to video posted to Facebook as well as the Bernalillo County Sheriff Office’s report, Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III was speaking at his mayoral campaign event when a drone with a sex toy attached began hovering over him.
The owner of the drone, Kaelan Ashby Dreyer, 20, tried to grab the device but turned his attention to Gonzales, at which point he took a swing at the sheriff and started to yell statements at him, including “he’s a tyrant.”
“Is that a dong on a drone?” a person in the crowd can be heard saying in the video.
After Gonzalez was struck, Dreyer was at some pinned to the ground and detained. Police then took the suspect into custody, according to the report.
Dreyer was charged with petty misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor resisting, evading or obstructing an officer.
He said he never intended to hit Gonzales but was upset over a question Gonzales was answering. According to the police report, “he did ball his fist and was just going to swing them through the air and leave the premises.”
Gonzales, who is a Democratic candidate in the mayoral race, said in an Albuquerque Journal report on Wednesday that he believed Dreyer was with several others when he spotted the flying drone.
“It became so distracting from the sound and everything I couldn’t really get my point across,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales told FOX-affiliate KOB that he firmly believes people should express their First Amendment right, but adds that if you commit a crime while doing it, you should go to jail.