Rhode Island state Sen. Joshua Miller was arrested last week after he was allegedly seen on a surveillance camera vandalizing a car with a “Biden Sucks” bumper sticker affixed to it, saying he was “daring” him to do it, according to authorities.
The Cranston Police Department said in a press release on June 23 that the 69-year-old Democrat lawmaker was charged with vandalism and malicious injury to property after admitting to using his key to scratch a black Nissan that had been parked next to his own truck at the Garden City Shopping Center in Cranston, Rhode Island.
Miller was arraigned and released on $1,000 personal recognizance, police said. He is scheduled to appear in the state’s 3rd Division District Court for re-arraignment on July 18.
“Nobody is above the law, including those who make and enforce the laws,” Colonel Michael Winquist, chief of the Cranston Police Department, said in the release, praising the officers who worked on the investigation for treating the case with “fairness, integrity, and without preferential treatment.”
Investigation Details
Police said the unidentified owner of the vandalized Nissan notified police on June 22 to report hearing a loud scratching noise identical to that of someone “keying” a vehicle, and once he returned to his SUV, he saw a lengthy scratch on the side of his car.
The owner confronted Miller before police arrived on the scene to ask him if he scratched his vehicle, but the lawmaker denied it and quickly walked away, police said. The victim then noticed that the truck parked next to his SUV had a “Re-elect Senator Josh Miller” bumper sticker affixed to the back of the car. When he looked up the name on his phone, he saw a photo of Miller and immediately recognized him as the alleged vandal.
While filing charges with police on the scene, a woman who was traveling with the victim suggested that Miller might have been unhappy with the “Biden Sucks” bumper sticker.
“He apparently doesn’t like my sticker,” she was heard saying in body camera footage obtained by Fox News.
Police said they were initially unable to locate the suspect matching the victim’s description, but after looking around the shopping plaza for over an hour, they eventually encountered Miller.
Miller is heard in the body camera video denying he scratched the SUV, telling police officers that he believed the man accusing him of keying his car was “a maniac” and “one of the gun nuts” who stalked him at the Rhode Island State House over his backing anti-gun legislation.
“He was blocking my way saying that I scratched his car, I didn’t scratch his car,” the lawmaker said. “I’m a state senator, I think he recognized me. I think he’s one of the gun nuts. He called out my name. I never told him my name.”
Miller was also heard name-dropping Winquist in the video, urging investigators to contact the police chief because he had been made aware of the stalking threats.
“Colonel Winquist knows that I was stalked by these guys. Because I’m a sponsor of assault-weapon legislation. He actually—they actually patrolled my house,” he said.
However, the department later disputed Miller’s claim, saying in a statement that the lawmaker “never reported any threats to Colonel Winquist or any member of the Cranston Police Department.”
In a separate body camera video, police are seen arriving at Miller’s house to question him about surveillance footage they reviewed which shows him next to the damaged SUV. Here, Miller eventually admits to scratching the car with his keys but alleged the victim “dared him” to key his vehicle while threatening him.
“I’m going to be right up front with you here. He saw your sticker on your truck, ran it, and saw your picture. He said: ‘That’s the guy who just keyed my car,'” a police officer is heard telling the state senator, later asking him, “What’s the reason to key the car, though, that’s the question?”
“Because he was daring me to, basically,” Miller responded. “The guy started on me as soon as I opened my door.”
Miller leads the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and represents Rhode Island’s State Senate District 28, which includes where the incident took place. He was the sponsor of Senate Bill 379, introduced in February, which looks to ban the possession, sale, and transfer of assault weapons.