Richmond man arrested, charged in connection to vandalism at Andy Barr campaign HQ
A Richmond man has been arrested in connection with vandalism that took place at Rep. Andy Barr’s Lexington campaign headquarters Thursday.
Blake Lashelle was arrested in Madison County on Friday on a warrant out of Fayette County charging him with first-degree criminal mischief, the Lexington Police Department said in a news release. The charge is a felony.
Lashelle was being held in the Madison County Detention Center on $25,000 bond.
Lexington police were called to Barr’s campaign headquarters at 2:45 p.m. Thursday on a report of vandalism, but the suspect was gone when they arrived.
No staffers were injured.
A spokesperson for Barr said Thursday that the office was vandalized by a “radical” who “disagreed with Andy Barr’s conservative beliefs.”
The campaign said the man “has been a frequent critic of Barr’s politics.”
In a news release from Barr’s office Friday night, Madison County Sheriff Mike Coyle said his office arrested the suspect “peacefully” in Richmond Friday afternoon.
Barr thanked Coyle, his deputies and the Lexington Police Department for a quick, professional response.
“Political violence has no place in our country. I’m grateful to God that our staff and volunteers are safe and not hurt,” Barr said in the release. “ … This is another example of why our police officers in Kentucky are the best in the country and why we must always back the blue.”
Barr is running in the Republican primary for the seat held by Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Other candidates include Republicans Nate Morris, a tech entrepreneur; Daniel Cameron, former Kentucky attorney general, and Michael Faris, an Elizabethtown businessman, as well as Democrats Charles Booker, Amy McGrath, Pamela Stevenson, Logan Forsythe and Dale Romans.
