'Kicked in the groin': Pro-Trump GOP activist charged with assaulting Republican 'colleague'

A "firebrand" Michigan Republican activist who participated in protests in support of former President Donald Trump following his loss in the 2020 election appeared in court this week to answer charges that he "assaulted a colleague," Michigan Live's Cole Waterman reports.

"Clare County District Judge Steven R. Worpell Jr. on Tuesday, September 5th, arraigned 63-year-old James F. Chapman on single counts of assault and battery and disturbing the peace. The charges are misdemeanors punishable by up to 93 and 90 days in jail, respectively, and a $500 fine," Waterman writes.

"Worpell set a $3,000 personal recognizance bond for Chapman," Waterman notes. "Chapman's case is slated for a pre-trial hearing before Judge Joshua M. Farrell on September 26th."

According to police body camera footage obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Waterman explains that Chapman allegedly "kicked" Clare County Republican Party Chair Mark L. DeYoung "in the crotch" after DeYoung opened a conference room door during a state GOP meeting at the Doherty Hotel on July 8th.

DeYoung had heard banging, Waterman says, and "fearing he was about to get punched, DeYoung said he took off his eyeglasses, at which point Chapman charged and tackled him. DeYoung struck a chair and landed on his back."

Waterman recalls, "The Clare Police Department previously provided MLive their written reports and about 51 minutes of footage recorded by responding officers’ body-worn cameras."

DeYoung, who "had not met Chapman before," Waterman continues, "stated he didn't say a thing to the guy (Chapman), but he (Chapman) was screaming the f-word at him through the door."

Later on, in the parking lot, "Chapman said he is a member of the Wayne 6th Congressional District Republican Committee and took issue with being 'locked out' of the meeting. He said he was listening at a windowed door when DeYoung approached him and asked him if he was messing with the door."

Witnesses also told police that "Chapman had been outside and making noise at the door."

Waterman adds, "DeYoung on July 12 emailed a more detailed statement to an investigator, saying he was listening to Michigan GOP Chair Kristina Karamo speak when he went to the rattling door, only to be greeted by a middle finger in its window. He opened the door and was immediately kicked in the groin, he wrote. Chapman charged him 'like a football player or a WWE wrestler,' he wrote. As Chapman tackled him, DeYoung also hit the back of his head on a table, he wrote, adding that a group of bystanders intervened and tried separating the pair, only to also land on top of DeYoung. Chapman fell on his face, he wrote, splitting his dentures in two."

Waterman points out that this was not Chapman's first run-in with law enforcement, recalling that "Chapman in May 2020 was involved in an altercation on the steps of the Michigan Capitol when he brought a brown-haired Barbie doll with a noose around its neck hanging from a 13-star Betsy Ross flag and fishing rod to protest Governor Gretchen Whitmer's COVID-19 restrictions. A skirmish erupted when another protester attempted to grab the doll off the flag. He told a reporter with Sinclair Broadcast Group the doll was meant to symbolize Whitmer."