Politics

Man Who Threw White Claw At Ted Cruz Says He Wanted Him To Chug It

Screen shot from NBC News YouTube video.

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Bronson Winslow Second Amendment & Politics Reporter
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The attorney of Joey Arcidiacono, the man who allegedly threw a White Claw at Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz during the Houston Astros’ World Series parade, is now saying that Arcidiacono wanted the senator to chug it.

Arcidiacono’s attorney, Bill Stradley, released a statement on his law firm’s Twitter page, saying that “political violence is never acceptable” and what happened at the parade was “not political violence nor ‘aggravated assault,'” just an “Astros fan trying to toss drinks from his cooler to the Senator.” Following the event, Cruz’s security apprehended Arcidiacono who was later charged with aggravated assault and received a $40,000 bail. (RELATED: Suspect Charged With Assaulting Sen. Ted Cruz With A White Claw Can)

“We have seen various videos and understand why Senator Cruz’s security detail was alert for potential violence. Instead, this was an Astros fan trying to toss drinks from his cooler to the Senator during a championship parade and not realizing how it would be perceived until he saw security’s reaction,” Stradley wrote in the statement.

Tossing cans at people during championship parades is a common practice, and Arcidiacono had texted a friend about his goal of tossing a can to one of the players, describing it as his “dream,” according to the statement. After the parade, Arcidiacono had failed to toss a can to an Astros player and tossed one to Cruz without understanding the optics of his actions, according to the statement.

“That is a widely known thing. To get them to chug. That was stupid, good fun. This ended up as not fun,” Stradley wrote.

“Joey apologizes for how his actions alarmed Senator Cruz, his family, and his security detail and put a damper on an otherwise beautiful celebration for millions of Houstonians. With this fuller context, we ask for grace and hope Senator Cruz declines to maintain charges,” Stradley wrote.

Stradley declined to make any further comments on the situation and requested privacy for Arcidiacono and his family.

Cruz did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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