Police have arrested a suspect accused of sexually assaulting former Arizona Republican Sen. Martha McSally this week.
Authorities have apprehended Dominic Henton, 25, of Papillion, Nebraska, and charged him with one count of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse after he allegedly attacked McSally while she was running in Iowa on Wednesday.
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The Council Bluffs Police Department said on Friday that officers were able to identify Henton in part based on surveillance video. An arrest warrant was issued on Thursday, police said. Henton was taken into custody by the Omaha Police Department around 3:20 a.m. local time on Friday, Council Bluffs police said, according to ABC News.
McSally posted a video on Instagram on Wednesday announcing that she had been sexually assaulted in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She was in town to speak at an event in Omaha when the attack occurred.
"I was just sexually assaulted while out running," McSally wrote in the caption under the video. "I am safe. I am ok. It could have been much worse. I have a lot to process. For anyone else who has been assaulted, speak up. Find your power. Process it emotionally, spiritually, neurologically. I am safe."
Police released stills from footage that shows Henton following McSally over a pedestrian bridge and onto a trail, which McSally posted on her Instagram.
In the video, McSally said a man, believed to be Henton, "came up behind me and he engulfed me in a bear hug.
"He molested and fondled me until I fought him off," the former senator said.
McSally said she then chased her attacker and called 911 as he hid in a brush, but he managed to escape.
Omaha police initially responded to Henton's home on Thursday after the suspect made a welfare call, Council Bluffs Police Sgt. Ted Roberts said. Omaha officers were unaware of the arrest warrant in Council Bluffs at the time, as it had not been fully processed, so Omaha officers took Henton to the hospital, Roberts said.
Henton was later released from the hospital and called Omaha police again. At this time, the Omaha officers had the arrest warrant and took Henton to jail, Roberts said. Henton is believed to be transient and to frequent the riverfront area on both the Iowa and Nebraska sides, police said.
McSally thanked the "amazing team of detectives" working her case in a follow-up post.
To the suspect, she said, "You will not get away with this or try to harm and violate another woman. You picked the wrong target."
McSally served in the Air Force for 26 years, during which she became the nation's first female fighter pilot to serve in combat. She was appointed to fill the late Sen. John McCain's seat after another appointee resigned. She lost the 2020 special election to Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) to determine who would serve out the remainder of McCain's term.
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During a 2019 congressional hearing on military sexual assault, McSally said she was raped by an Air Force officer who ranked above her.
"I also am a military sexual assault survivor, but unlike so many brave survivors, I didn’t report being sexually assaulted," McSally said during the hearing. "Like so many women and men, I didn’t trust the system at the time. I blamed myself. I was ashamed and confused. I thought I was strong but felt powerless. The perpetrators abused their position of power in profound ways."