LONDONDERRY, NH – One of two men arrested at a gathering of Donald Trump supporters in Londonderry Friday allegedly punched a man in plain view of Londonderry Police and the U.S. Secret Service shortly after allegedly grabbing a woman by the neck and telling her he was going to kill her.
Londonderry Police say Scott William Doan, 66, of North Hampton, was arrested and charged with two counts of simple assault, criminal threatening and disorderly conduct.
According to police reports, a couple of friends — a man and a woman — who had driven an RV from Pennsylvania to attend the Trump rally, told police around 7 p.m. that Doan made a concerning statement along the lines of “I wish I had an RPG in my truck.”
An RPG is a rocket-propelled grenade. The rally was taking place in and around an airport hangar on Kelly Avenue.
Officers pulled Doan aside and interviewed him about this statement, and suggested he go home.
Instead, Doan returned to confront the people who he deduced reported his statement to police. According to the victims’ accounts to police, he climbed to the top of the RV where the woman was watching the rally from, grabbed her by the neck and said, “Do you remember me? I’ll fucking kill you, bitch.”
While yelling at her, he also allegedly said, “Why did you tell them?”
The woman’s male friend, who was at ground level, witnessed this and walked quickly for help toward the nearest Secret Service officer. Doan followed close behind and pushed the man down a grassy embankment.
The man didn’t lose his footing and started jogging to the officer. Just as the man reached the officer, Doan caught up to the man and punched him in the face.
A bystander took a video of Doan following, pushing and punching the male victim. Manchester Ink Link has obtained a recording of the recording from police (see above).
Secret Service Officer Marissa Weaver immediately detained Doan with the help of a plain-clothes Secret Service officer and Londonderry Police Officer Rafael Ribeiro who ran over from about 100 feet away and witnessed the assault.
Ribeiro noticed the smell of alcohol on Doan’s breath, according to his report.
Later, during the booking process at the Londonderry Police Department, Doan made some additional comments, according to Capt. Patrick Cheetham.
“He made several unprovoked statements to the booking officer to include ‘That guy went down way too easy’ and ‘That guy deserved it,’” Cheetham said. “He also allegedly admitted that he should not have come back to the rally, referring to the fact that he had been asked to leave earlier in the night.”
Cheetham said Doan also claimed that someone hired him to attend the rally, intending to make a point about the fact that few people in attendance were wearing masks, but police have not independently confirmed this claim.
“I have no idea if someone really hired him or not,” Cheetham said.
Police also arrested rally attendee Edward Pitt, 51, of Canton, Mass., the same evening. He was charged with simple assault for allegedly hitting the arm of an anti-Trump protester, knocking the victim’s phone out of his hand.
Two Londonderry officers were nearby, witnessed the incident and immediately arrested Pitt.
Both Pitt and Doan were released and arraigned at Derry District Court Friday evening
