Woman injured in encounter while waving political signs at Pensacola Beach
PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. - A violent encounter at Pensacola Beach on Friday left a woman injured.
A group of people were waving political signsin support of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at the corner of Via De Luna and Fort Pickens Road. The trouble started when Holly Shelton Snowden says a passerby began yelling at their group.
"It left me scared," she told WEAR News on Monday.
Shelton Snowden says about an hour after she arrived, a passerby began shouting at a member of the group - and the interaction was caught on camera.
She says she tried to end the conflict by stepping in - but from there, a woman stole her sign and ran off.
In attempt to get her sign back from the woman,Shelton Snowden was struck in the eye.
Shelton Snowdensays the attack caught her completely off guard.
"I didn't have time to think anything. I tried not to fall down," she said. "When she struck me, I was really hurt. It frightened me."
As a result, Shelton Snowden is left with a bruised eye and a broken pair of glasses. She's determined to find the woman that hit her.
"I need it for myself. They don't let us say 'closure' as behavioral therapists, but I need closure," she said. "And I need to know that my eye is alright. She needs to pay for my eye."
The alleged attacker fled the scene before deputies arrived.
A volunteer with the Harris-Walz campaign says there's no place for violence within our democracy. She says politics aside, it shouldn't have happened.
"I pray this is just one of those accidents that happen," said Jewel Canada-Wynn with the Harris-Walz campaign. "That it is not an example of what is to come between now and tomorrow."
Shelton-Snowden filed a report at the scene with an Escambia County deputy.
"I'm over 65, and what she did was assaulting an elder, and that's a felony in Florida, so I've been told by police," she said.
Shelton-Snowden says this was her first canvassing event and will probably be her last.
The Escambia County Sheriff's Office says there is an open investigation. No arrest has been made.
