A Democratic congressional candidate in Arizona, Bernadette Greene-Placentia, says she was sexually assaulted and raped in August after 2 a.m. while she was fixing damaged campaign signs. She reported the incident took place in a dark parking lot in Sun City, where she said she was attacked after arriving to repair signs late at night.
Multiple outlets describe her account of the circumstances leading up to the assault and her decision to speak publicly. She has said she regularly made nighttime trips to avoid summer heat and daytime traffic and that she stopped doing so after the attack. According to reporting that cites a police report, she notified her campaign and her husband soon afterward and later made a report to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. Sources also note she is sharing her story to draw attention to sexual assault victims.
Outlets differ in the amount of detail they include, including references to language she said the attacker used and additional physical and timing details. Some reports also mention that she is challenging incumbent Republican Representative Abe Hamadeh in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, while noting that he has not publicly commented on the allegations.
