Edward Markey

Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton’s East Providence law office was vandalized Friday.

A single employee was in Deaton’s office at the time of the attack and was left unhurt, Deaton explained in an appearance on the Howie Carr Show.

“I had my great employee, Kat, working at her desk and all of a sudden she gets scared out of her mind as a wooden dowel comes flying through the front glass. It shattered the window. Thank goodness she was far back enough, but was close enough where it came within a few feet of her,” Deaton said.

Deaton described it as a “violent attack” motivated by the “toxic, dangerous climate” he says incumbent Democratic Sen. Ed Markey has manufactured.

Deaton said that he had been featured on Providence’s local NBC affiliate WJAR-TV the day before the attack when asked how someone figured out where his law office is. Much of south coast Massachusetts is part of the Providence television market, which covers Massachusetts politics when related to the region.

Deaton went on to pin the attack on Markey’s smearing of Deaton as a “Trumper,” a “Trump sycophant,” and a “MAGA Republican” for fueling the flames of the person who carried out the vandalism. That person remains unidentified as East Providence Police investigate.

“Markey knows these are malicious fabrications meant to incite anger and hatred towards me. Ed Markey knows that I have never voted for Donald Trump. He is fully aware that I have never supported Donald Trump. Yet Markey continues to weaponize these lies because he cannot defend his own record and is afraid to face me on the issues most important to working families across the Commonwealth,” Deaton said. “His reckless rhetoric has caused the harassment of my children and now an act of violence against my law firm, directly endangering my staff.”

Markey’s campaign condemned the political vandalism in a statement sent to the Herald.

“Senator Markey believes that no act of violence — political or otherwise — is ever acceptable. We are thankful for the East Providence police who will investigate this vandalism and hold those responsible accountable,” Markey campaign spokesman Jonathan Ng said. “Our campaign remains focused on how Senator Markey can continue doing the work of delivering for the people of Massachusetts.”

Just days before the attack at his office, Deaton had hired a billboard truck to sit outside of Markey’s Chevy Chase, Maryland home with a video highlighting the senator’s perceived lack of residency in Massachusetts and to press him on unexpectedly backing out of a recently scheduled debate.

The billboard truck also called on Markey to “back out of the U.S. Senate” if he refuses multiple debates against Deaton.

“Ed Markey has lived his entire life in Malden, the community that shaped the fight he brings to the Senate every day. He does also spend time in Washington, when the Senate is in session, a requirement of the job his opponent may not be aware of. In comparison, John Deaton only recently decided that Massachusetts was a good place to move to in his attempt to try and buy a Senate seat,” Markey Campaign Manager Cam Charbonnier told the Herald in response to the truck.

Incident Summary

BPD responded to 280 incidents in the 24-hour period ending at 10 a.m. Saturday, according to the department’s incident log. Those included three robberies, three aggravated assaults, three thefts from vehicles, one stolen vehicle, and 16 instances of miscellaneous larceny.

Arrests

All of the below-named defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

— Patrick Moses, 11 Westville Terrace, Boston. External warrant.

— Juan Gironza, 112 Southampton St., Roxbury. Unarmed robbery.

— Loren Mullaney, 25 Water St., Weymouth. Shoplifting.

— George Handy, 112 Southampton St., Boston. Possession of Class B drugs.

— Jackline Roque Moreno, 21 Woodside Ave., West Warwick, Rhode Island. Shoplifting.

— Sebastian Vasquez, 117 Coleridge St., East Boston. Shoplifting.

— Brian Lepore, 444 Harrison Ave., Boston. Possession with intent to distribute Class A drugs.

— Thomas Morse, 8 Rainbow Pond Drive, Walpole. Shoplifting.

— Jerry Ortiz, 50 Dimmock St., Roxbury. Possession with intent to distribute Class A drugs.