Here’s the hate that the MAGAs are trying to mainstream coming home to roost: a Harrisonburg man was arrested last week after threatening a trans person, then setting fire to their tent.
Matthew Jacob Smith, 30, of Harrisonburg, was arrested and is in custody in connection with the Oct. 16 fire.
What went down
Two people living in a tent on East Market Street reported to Harrisonburg Police at 6 p.m. on Friday that Smith had been continuously harassing them due to one of them identifying as transgender.
The couple, per a release from the PD, was inside the tent when they heard a lighter ignite and saw the flames begin to build.
After they made it out of the tent safely, Smith continued to make derogatory statements to the individuals, per the release.
Once Smith was taken into custody, police report that he began acting erratically and fighting with officers, spitting on them, and biting an officer on the hand.
He was placed into a restraint device to protect himself and the responding officers as he was taken to jail.
That would be the basis of the three counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer on Smith’s ledger.
He was also charged with two counts of obstruction with threats or force, two counts of unlawful bodily injury, and one count each of disorderly conduct and burning/destroying a dwelling.
Next steps
Smith is due back in court on Dec. 1.
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Chris Graham
