Security guards for Joe Miller, the Republican Senate candidate from Alaska, handcuffed and detained the editor of an online news site at a campaign event in Anchorage on Sunday. A statement by the Miller campaign described the editor, Tony Hopfinger of Alaska Dispatch, as a “liberal blogger” who was trying to create a “confrontation” with Mr. Miller. The campaign also accused Mr. Hopfinger of assaulting someone after the event, a question and answer session with voters, and of “making threatening gestures and movements towards the candidate.”
The Anchorage Police responded to the incident, which took place at a public middle school. The police released Mr. Hopfinger from the handcuffs. It is unclear whether anyone involved will face charges.
Mr. Hopfinger, a longtime Alaska journalist who has written for prominent national news outlets, told the Anchorage Daily News that he had been trying to question Mr. Miller about reports that he had been disciplined in a past part-time job he held as a lawyer for the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the equivalent of a county government.
The issue has received attention recently amid reports, including in Alaska Dispatch, that Mr. Miller used government computers for political purposes in 2008.
Mr. Hopfinger said he was attempting to record an interview with Mr. Miller on a small video camera. Mr. Miller had said last week that he will not answer questions about the matter.
The statement from the Miller campaign, headlined “Liberal Blogger ‘Loses It’ at Town Hall Meeting,” said Mr. Hopfinger “chased Miller to the exit after the event concluded in an attempt to create and then record a ‘confrontation’ with the candidate.”
The campaign said Mr. Miller “attempted to calmly exit the facility” but that soon the private security guards, hired by the Miller campaign, “had to take action and intervened and detained the irrational blogger, whose anger overcame him.” The campaign said Mr. Hopfinger “physically assaulted” someone at the event at one point.
Mr. Hopfinger told the Daily News he had shoved another man because he felt threatened after being surrounded by supporters of Mr. Miller during the incident. The owner of the security company the guards work for told the newspaper that the other man involved was not hurt.
Mr. Miller, backed by Tea Party activists and Sarah Palin, defeated Senator Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary in August. Ms. Murkowski has since mounted a write-in campaign for the general election. A Democrat, Scott McAdams, is also in the race.
