MLA Dave Hanson’s office vandalized; one arrested

UPDATE

Last night at approximately 11:30 p.m., St. Paul RCMP responded to a report of property damage at the office of the United Conservative Party in St. Paul.

Several windows were damaged earlier in the evening.

St. Paul RCMP arrested a 34-year-old male in relation to this offence for mischief. He was later released.

His name cannot be identified pending a swearing of an Information and he will be appearing in St. Paul Provincial Court on Feb. 21, 2019.

As this matter is now before the courts no further information will be released.

BACKGROUND

Last night, rocks were thrown through the window of MLA Dave Hanson’s office. The assailant specifically cited a highly misleading tweet from an NDP Minister as his motivation.

From MLA Hanson (https://tinyurl.com/yc3ookdy):

“Yesterday night, my constituency office in St. Paul was vandalized, with our front windows shattered by large rocks thrown through them.

Thankfully, nobody was injured as the vandalism took place after hours when neither my local staff nor the Albertans who come into my office seeking assistance were present.

Today, we were disturbed to receive an e-mail from an individual taking responsibility for the incident, and specifically attributing it to retaliation motivated by over-the-top rhetoric coming from an NDP Minister on Twitter.

The individual specifically pointed to a Tweet that claimed that United Conservatives want to cut 20 per cent and suggesting that AISH payments would be eliminated.

These claims are patently false. Not only have there been no such commitments, but this falsehood is demonstrably untrue, having been repeatedly debunked.

In fact, our United Conservative team in the Legislature voted in support of increasing AISH funding this past November because we believe it’s the right thing to do.

With regard to the incident at my constituency office, to be clear, I believe individuals are responsible for their own actions and do not mean to imply that the individual responsible for this vandalism is working on behalf of any party, nor that the NDP is responsible for this act.

That said, with an election expected soon, this incident should be a reminder for responsibility. Fear-mongering and peddling false claims for political gain can cause undue distress when programs and services people depend on are being used as a political ploy.”

Full news release: http://www.ucpcaucus.ca/statement-from-mla-dave-hanson/