FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Police are filing a petition to take away the 10 guns they recovered from Brad Parscale’s home under the state’s red flag law.
Officers involuntarily committed Parscale to a hospital Sunday after President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager initially refused to come out of his Fort Lauderdale house when his wife feared he might harm himself.
The red flag law, passed in Florida just weeks after the Parkland school shooting, allows authorities to remove weapons from people who pose a danger to themselves and others, with backing from a judge.
“Our Threat Response Unit Detectives are in the process of submitting this petition,” Fort Lauderdale Police Sgt. Deanna Greenlaw told Local 10 News.
Police also documented bruises on Candice Parscale’s arms, which she said were from a recent physical altercation with her husband.
When asked about possible domestic violence charges for Parscale, Greenlaw said: “In incidents involving misdemeanor domestic violence charges, our Victim Advocates contact the victim to assist them in filing charges with the [State Attorneys Office]. In this incident, the victim was not forthcoming with information while officers were in contact with her on-scene, and the assigned Victim Advocate has had trouble contacting the victim to provide assistance.”
Bodyworn camera footage shows the SWAT team takedown of Parscale, 44, outside his home in the upscale Seven Isles neighborhood around 4 p.m. Sunday.
(WARNING: Video below contains profanity)
“I didn’t do anything,” Parscale could be heard repeatedly saying.
Fort Lauderdale Police responded to a 911 call after Parscale’s wife approached a woman outside their Desota Drive home, saying her husband was barricaded inside and she worried he had shot himself.
Parscale was taken to Broward Health Medical Center under the Baker Act, which allows anyone deemed to be a threat to themselves or others to be detained for 72 hours for psychiatric evaluation.
Officers wrote in their reports that Parscale appeared to be drunk.
Candice Parscale told police that her husband had made suicidal comments about shooting himself in recent days.
Parscale was demoted from his campaign manager job in July but remained part of Trump’s re-election campaign, helping run its digital operation.
“Our thoughts are with Brad and his family as we wait for all the facts to emerge,” Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said in a statement to ABC News on Monday.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or text “Home” to 741741.