A man with an anti-Donald Trump bumper sticker apparently hearing ‘voices in his head’ rammed his car into a store selling memorabilia for the former president.
Sean Flaherty, 46, crashed his Volkswagen Jetta into the New England for Trump souvenir store in Easton, Massachusetts, shortly after 5pm on Thursday, according to police.
Surveillance footage of the incident posted on by the Easton Police Department showed pro-Trump shirts, hats and other souvenirs flying from the impact. The 1991 Nirvana song Smells Like Teen Spirit could be heard playing from the vehicle.
An employee of the store, Karla Kelley, said there was no argument that occurred prior that spurred the man to drive ‘off of the street and into the building’.
The man only said ‘the voices in his head told him to do it’, Kelley told . There was an ‘anti-Trump sticker on his car’, she added.
A friend of Flaherty claimed that ‘it had nothing to do with Trump or any political anything’.
‘It was just an unfortunate coincidence,’ the unnamed friend told . ‘He wasn’t in the right sense of mind mentally. He’s been going through a lot over the past year.’
However, a Brockton Enterprise photographer tweeted images showing the rear of Flaherty’s 2015 Jetta with at least one anti-Trump statement. Alongside a picture of Trump’s face with a rectangular barcode resembling dictator Adolf Hitler’s mustache was a Voltaire quote: ‘Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.’
The store’s owner, Keith Lambert, was not present at the time of the crash but told the that ‘it’s very disturbing to think somebody would do something like this’.
Lambert owns six pro-Trump stores in the area, the first which he opened in 2019 after having a hard time finding a Make America Great Again hat in blue New England.
The store in Easton opened for business the day after the incident.
Flaherty has been charged with reckless operation of a motor vehicle and malicious destruction of property, and could face more charges. He will likely be arraigned at Taunton District Court.
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