Man suspected of attacking Trump supporter in Upper Peninsula town found dead

A series of crimes on Sunday that police say appear to be politically motivated have left the small Upper Peninsula community of Hancock in turmoil.

According to Hancock police, within about an hour on the afternoon of July 21, a 22-year-old man driving an SUV through town damaged two cars and attacked an 80-year-old man who had hung signs in his yard supporting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The man believed to be responsible for the attacks, whose name was not released by authorities Tuesday, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office.

Hancock police received a message Monday from someone at an address in Quincy Township, north of Hancock, saying he wanted to “confess to a crime involving an ATV rider within the past 24 hours” and that police should send someone to pick him up, according to the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to the call along with local police.

According to the sheriff of Houghton County in Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula, the man was dead when officers arrived.

According to the sheriff’s office, the vehicle used by the driver was found at the residence.

Hancock Police Chief Tami Sleeman told The Detroit News that reports of the attacks spanned the period between 4:45 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. Sunday and began with the first act of vandalism on a car.

According to witnesses, Sleeman said the driver shouted profanities as he drove past the elderly man who was putting up the political signs, then ripped up the signs and finally struck him from behind as the man tried to put the signs back up. The 80-year-old man suffered serious injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition, according to a Hancock police news release.

One of the vehicles had its windows smashed with a shovel that Sleeman said was left at the scene, while the other vehicle had its tire valves removed. One of the vehicles displayed a sign supporting Trump, and the second vehicle had a sign that read “Thin Blue Line,” a phrase that Hancock police say expresses support for law enforcement.

“What this has done to this community is quite disturbing,” Sleeman said. “Our concern is for the safety of everyone here. Politics should not incite violence.”

Sleeman said police have been in contact with the FBI’s Michigan field office about the incident, and the biggest concern now is to make sure the man acted alone and there is no ongoing public threat.

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