Former Republican US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s son was arrested on domestic violence charges after an armed altercation with his girlfriend, according to court documents filed on Tuesday, as his mother endorsed Republican US presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
During the fight, Track Palin allegedly brandished a rifle and threatened to shoot himself, according to the documents that came the same day Sarah Palin, a 2008 vice presidential nominee, former Alaska governor and gun enthusiast, endorsed Trump’s quest for the presidency.
Track, 26, Palin’s eldest son and an army veteran who served a tour of duty in Iraq, was arraigned in a pre-trial facility in Alaska, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
According to the documents filed in court and posted online, Track got in a drunken fight with his girlfriend at his mother’s house in Wasilla late on Monday.
The girlfriend called 911 “reporting that a male had punched her in the face and that a firearm was involved,” according to the police affidavit filed in court.
Soon after, a man who identified himself as Track Palin called 911 to report that the female caller was drunk.
When police arrived, they interviewed Track Palin, who “was uncooperative, belligerent and evasive” to questions.
His right eye was injured, and he had “a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and person.”
Police could not find the female caller, and “due to Palin’s escalating hostility ... Palin was placed into handcuffs.”
Soon after, officers found the girlfriend upstairs hiding under a bed.
“She was visibly distraught and [had an] injury to her head,” the documents said.
Palin eventually told police that he and the woman had been arguing most of the night over her alleged contact with a former boyfriend.
According to the affidavit, the woman said that Palin “struck her on the left side of her head near her eye with a closed fist,” and when she curled up in the fetal position on the ground, he kicked her on the right knee.
Palin threw the woman’s mobile phone across the driveway, and after she retrieved it, he was holding a gun pointed near his face, yelling: “Do you think I won’t do it?”
The woman “was concerned that he would shoot himself and ran outside and around the house,” and later hid under a bed upstairs.
Upon inspection, police found “the involved firearm, an unloaded AR-15 rifle,” on the kitchen counter.
Track Palin faces charges of domestic violence, assault, interfering with a report of domestic violence and weapons misconduct.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was