Wisconsin Green Candidate Arrested After Mequon Confrontation

Green Party congressional candidate Matthew Arndt was arrested after a profane confrontation with a Jewish man at a Mequon gas station, following an earlier road encounter that the man said began over an anti-Hamas sticker on his car. Mequon police said Arndt, 54, was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct with a hate-crime enhancer after the October 8 incident. Police referred the case to the Ozaukee County district attorney. Reports differ on whether formal charges had been filed by October 10, so the case’s charging status is not established by the available information. Video recorded at the station shows Arndt using profanities about Israel and telling the other man he was running for Congress. The man’s young child was in the car, according to reports. The father said he had been driving his son to school when Arndt confronted him in traffic, cursed at him and nearly pushed him out of his lane. He said his vehicle displayed an Israeli-flag sticker criticizing Hamas. The father followed Arndt to the gas station and recorded their exchange. The father characterized Arndt’s remarks as antisemitic and directed at him as a Jewish man.