A 70-year-old poet was arrested after allegedly slapping a Turning Point Action volunteer outside a Laconia elementary school where voters were casting ballots Tuesday, police said.
Officers arrested Stephen Redic around 8 a.m. Wednesday. He faces a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and a violation for disorderly conduct, according to the Laconia Police Department. Police Chief Matthew Canfield said officers had no previous contact with Redic.
Police said Redic approached the Turning Point tent as he was leaving and wanted to read a poem about wealthy people. The poem does not appear in video of the encounter, which shows Redic arguing with the volunteer and becoming increasingly agitated.
In the footage, Redic shouts at the volunteer, gives him the middle finger and slaps him before walking away. He also challenges the volunteer for supposedly claiming he knew nothing, then points a finger at him and strikes him. As he leaves, people nearby can be heard discussing whether to call police. Onlookers react with surprise.
Turning Point identified the volunteer as an 18-year-old.
Redic published a poetry book, “Tying My Shoes,” in 2023. In it, he wrote that he had met every U.S. president since Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Redic is scheduled to be arraigned in court on Dec. 10. It was not clear Wednesday afternoon whether he had hired an attorney, and he did not immediately respond to an attempt to contact him.
The incident comes 14 months after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University beneath a tent. Kirk also founded Turning Point Action.
Tyler Robinson, who is accused of killing Kirk, has pleaded not guilty and is due in court Monday for a hearing that could result in a trial date being set.
