Michigan Rep. Neil Friske arrested, faces sex assault and gun charges

Friske didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Friday.

Friske had not been formally charged as of Friday afternoon. In response to the workplace of Ingham County Prosecutor John J. Dewane (D), an investigation is ongoing into the late-night incident, which started when police responded to reviews of a person with a gun and attainable pictures fired.

“Through the course of the preliminary investigation, regulation enforcement officers discovered of a attainable sexual assault of an grownup feminine they usually arrested a 62-year previous male, Kornelius Friske,” Dewane’s workplace stated, utilizing the lawmaker’s full first identify.

Police arrested Friske round 2:45 a.m. Thursday and took him into custody. The block the place police stated Friske was arrested is the place he bought a condominium in January, in line with property information.

The lawmaker was launched Friday.

Hours after Friske’s early-morning arrest Thursday, his marketing campaign defended him in an announcement, writing: “As many people know, Rep Friske is all the time exercising his 2nd Modification proper.”

In its assertion, Friske’s marketing campaign forged the arrest as suspicious because of the forthcoming launch of absentee ballots for Michigan’s Aug. 6 major. The marketing campaign additionally accused Friske’s “opponent” of getting “deep-state ties” however didn’t specify whether or not it was referencing his Republican major challenger or the Democrat vying to characterize Michigan’s 107th District.

Parker Fairbairn, Friske’s Republican major challenger, in an announcement Friday stated Friske deserves “the presumption of innocence till confirmed responsible” however known as the assemblyman’s voting file “abysmal and immoral.”

“Neil deserves his time in courtroom, and the individuals of the 107th deserve higher than Neil,” Fairbairn stated.

As a member of the conservative Michigan Home Freedom Caucus, Friske has supported hard-line immigration insurance policies and launched laws to curb abortion entry, together with an unsuccessful invoice that may have banned using prescription drugs for medication-induced abortions.

Friske’s critics within the state’s Democrat-led legislature demanded accountability for the Republican lawmaker, with State Rep. Phil Skaggs (D) saying on X that if the sexual assault allegations are true, Friske ought to “resign from the Michigan Home instantly.”