Topline
Iowa police announced Friday that a suspect had been arrested in relation to the sexual assault of former Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) — who was “molested and fondled” Wednesday while on a run in the Omaha-Council Bluffs, Iowa area.
In this surveillance camera image released by the Council Bluffs, Iowa, Police Department, former … [+] U.S. Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona, is followed by a man while she was jogging at Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. (Council Bluffs Police Department via AP)
Key Facts
Police in Council Bluffs, Iowa — which shares a border with Omaha, Nebraska — said in an update Friday that Omaha police took the suspect, Dominic M. Henton, into custody around 3:30 a.m.
Henton was identified as the suspect in part due to surveillance video in the area that showed him following McSally.
On Thursday, Omaha police responded to Henton’s home after he made a welfare call and took him to the hospital, unaware of his arrest warrant, according to ABC News, but Henton called again after being released and police arrested him.
As of Friday afternoon, the Council Bluffs Police Department could not provide any information on whether Henton had entered a plea or had an upcoming hearing.
Key Background
Council Bluffs Police posted the police report for the assault on Facebook on Thursday morning, one day after it occurred, and asked the public for any information on the incident. The report, which named McSally with her permission, said she was jogging in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area when she was assaulted and “fought off the attacker and chased him into a dense area of brush,” but lost sight of him before officers arrived. McSally posted a video on Instagram on Wednesday discussing the assault, saying she was “safe” and “ok” and recounting the story. She said “a man came up behind (her) and he engulfed (her) in a bear hug,” adding “he molested and fondled (her).” In the video, she said the assault “tapped into a nerve of other sexual abuse and assault that (she’d) been thorugh in the past,” adding she felt like she took her power back in this situation by fighting but “still ha(s) a lot to process.” McSally, a veteran of the Air Force and the first woman in combat, according to the New York Times, previously shared her story of being raped by a superior officer. McSally was in the Omaha area to speak “about courage and heart,” according to the video. In 2018, McSally lost to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, then a Democrat but who has since left the party. After that, she was appointed to the Senate to fill Republican Sen. John McCain’s seat following his death and began serving in 2019, but lost to Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in a special election for who would serve the remainder of the term. From 2015 until her Senate appointment, she served in the U.S. House.
Further Reading
The HillSuspected arrested in McSally assaultABC NewsSuspect arrested after former Sen. Martha McSally reports being assaulted while running
NytimesSenator Martha McSally Says Superior Officer in the Air Force Raped Her (Published 2019)NytimesMark Kelly Defeats Martha McSally in Crucial Arizona Senate Race (Published 2020)
