Brad Parscale: Police video shows Trump's ex-campaign manager wrestled to ground during arrest

Wife claims former Trump staffer gave her cuts, bruises earlier in the week

Brad Parscale, the former manager of Donald Trump's digital campaign efforts, was wrestled to the ground and arrested by Fort Lauderdale police following a standoff with authorities.  

Footage of the arrest was made public by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.  

Officers removed 10 guns from his home following a police standoff on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  

Amoung the weapons recovered from the former Trump staffer's home were several pistols, a shotgun, and a rifle, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.  

On Monday, Fort Lauderdale police provided details into the standoff.  

The standoff began on Sunday after Mr Parscale's wife, Candice, after fleeing her home in fear. According to Ms Parscale, she fled her home after getting into an argument with Mr Parscale, who became irate and loaded a gun in the course of their fight.  

Ms Parscale fled the house and ran to a neighbor's home, where she called the police. She said that shortly after leaving her house, she heard a gunshot and was concerned her husband was going to kill himself.

She later admitted she wasn't sure if the sound she heard was a gunshot or a car backfire. Ms Parscale claimed her husband had been "stressed out" for the past two weeks and had made comments about shooting himself. She claimed he'd been drinking heavily and that he "suffers from PTSD."  

It is not immediately clear what sparked the fight.  

When police arrived to the scene, they found Ms Parscale covered in cuts and bruises. She told officers that Mr Parscale had caused her injuries earlier in the week.  

When officers called Mr Parscale, they noted that "Bradley's speech was slurred as though he was under the influence of an alcoholic beverage and he seemed to be crying."

The officers then tried to convince Mr Parscale to leave the house, but police reports claim he was belligerent and refused to leave.  

Eventually, a Fort Lauderdale police officer, Christopher Wilson, said he was personal friends with the former Trump staffer, and went to the scene to help calm Mr Parscale.  

Mr Wilson ultimately convinced Mr Parscale to exit the house. He approached Mr Wilson and began talking to him about why he was upset, but other officers swooped in and knocked him to the ground.  

"I didn't do anything!" Mr Parscale said as officers restrained him.  

He protests and offers little resistance other than questioning why the officers are arresting him. At one point, an officer says "Hey, we'll figure it all out, don't worry about it," to the bewildered former Trump staffer.  

After his arrest, Mr Parscale was involuntarily committed for psychiatric evaluation under Florida's Baker Act, a law allowing authorities to detain a person who they have judged mentally unstable and a danger to themselves or others. Under the law, individuals can be held for up to 72 hours.  

Mr Parscale became a minor celebrity in Trumpworld, where he evolved from simply managing the campaign's social media presence to speaking at Republican events and appearing on cable news shows as a Trump-friendly talking head.  

Despite his high profile and close working relationship with Mr Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, Mr Parscale fell out of favor following the president's disastrous Tulsa, Oklahoma rally in June.  

Mr Parscale boasted that 1 million tickets had been requested and that he expected 100,000 people to show up. Ultimately, only 6,200 people attended the event, including former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, who died a month later from Covid-19.  

Mr Parscale was fired in mid-July.

An ad from the Lincoln Project - a Republican led anti-Trump group - highlighted how self-enriching Mr Parscale's work for Mr Trump had been. It claims Mr Parscale's personal companies benefitted from his raised profile, and listed amoung his assets a $2.4m waterfront house in Fort Lauderdale, two Florida condos worth nearly $1m, a yacht, a Ferrari and a Range Rover.  

Both the campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and that of Mr Trump issued statements supporting Mr Parscale, though the Republic response used the opportunity to attack its political opponents in the process.  

"Brad Parscale is a member of our family and we all love him. We are ready to support him and his family in any way possible. The disgusting, personal attacks from Democrats and disgruntled RINOs have gone too far, and they should be ashamed of themselves for what they’ve done to this man and his family,” Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign communications director, said.  

On the other side of the aisle, the Biden campaign wished Mr Parscale a speedy recovery.  

“This field is tough. It takes its toll on people in unfathomable ways," the Biden War Room Twitter account wrote. "Regardless of the differences we have in our beliefs, we at the Biden War Room hope that Brad Parscale is safe, is with his family, and gets everything that he needs to get better.”