Mass. city councilor arrested, accused of screaming at Trump supporters, blocking traffic

AMESBURY, Mass. — An Amesbury city councilor faced a judge on Monday after his weekend arrest, accused of screaming at supporters of presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump, blocking traffic as they drove by with campaign signs and American flags, and jumping onto the hood of one vehicle.

City Councilor at-Large Steve Stanganelli, 59, of Amesbury, was arrested Saturday and charged with disorderly conduct following the incident, which was caught on video, police said. Stanganelli pleaded not guilty to the charge in Newburyport District Court on Monday. He is due back in court on Dec. 11.

Stanganelli told Boston 25 that he wasn’t targeting Trump supporters during the rolling Trump rally, and that it was an issue of public safety. He said he saw several cars failing to stop at the stop sign at the corner of High and Market streets.

“There was no intention, any attempt by me to stifle First Amendment rights. I didn’t even know there was any kind of rally activity going on,” Stanganelli said.

Saturday’s incident drew a response from city officials on Monday.

“We understand that this is very polarized time in politics and that emotions are running high as we prepare for the election on Tuesday. However, the city of Amesbury does not tolerate or condone behavior such as what took place on Saturday, regardless of the political climate,” City of Amesbury Communications Director Willam Donohue said in a statement.

“Any disciplinary actions against Mr. Stanganelli regarding his seat on the council would come from City Council, the legislative branch, and is not the purview of the executive branch led by the mayor,” Donohue added.

In their report, police said the city councilor’s “actions were Disorderly by purposefully causing a risk that alarmed the public with agitated and tumultuous behavior,” based on video evidence and statements by witnesses and Stanganelli himself to responding officers.

At 2:27 p.m. Saturday, all police units were dispatched to Market Square for a reported disturbance or fight, police said. The downtown area was busy with pedestrian traffic due to a craft fair and nice weather.

When police arrived, they “noticed the downtown traffic to be chaotic and at a standstill.” One officer who parked his cruiser and began walking towards the square heard a man, later identified as Stanganelli “screaming and yelling towards a small group of people.”

Witnesses at the scene told police that there were several vehicles with Trump flags and American flags on their vehicles driving through Market Street when suddenly, “there was a lot of beeping and commotion.”

One witness told police that she saw Stanganelli “in the middle of the roadway counting out each vehicle.”

“The vehicles had Trump flags and the male was screaming at the Trump supporters stating that they do not belong there,” the witness told police. “Steve was in the middle of the roadway screaming and yelling and antagonizing each Trump vehicle that passed. There were several civilian videos that showed Steve’s actions.”

In a video described by police, Stanganelli is seen walking in front of a gray pickup truck, and then “Steve was in front of the pickup screaming at” the driver.

Initially, the driver “stopped and Steve continued to scream and yell.” The driver “then attempted to leave, and Steve was blocking his vehicle,” police said.

In the video, the driver is seen inching forward “and appear to make contact with Steve,” who then “jumps on the hood” of the driver’s truck, claiming that the driver hit him.

“Steve blocked the path of several vehicles and appeared to only be the vehicles that were showing support to Trump,” police said.

Stanganelli claimed that he was assaulted by a man. Witnesses told police they did not see the city councilor assaulted “but witnessed Steve pushing himself in front of people’s faces,” police said.

While police were interviewing witnesses, they were interrupted by Stanganelli “and an unknown male yelling.”

Stanganelli was arrested at the scene, “handcuffed, double locked, and checked for tightness” and placed into the back of the police cruiser and taken to the police station for booking, police said.

While at the police station for booking, Stanganelli told police he was in Ristorante Molise when he heard a series of beeps and saw a series of vehicles go through the stop sign coming off Market Street.

“Steve then ran out and yelled at vehicles and attempted to cross the street. A vehicle then stopped and began to yell at him. Steve stated that he then attempted to cross the street again and the driver continued to push forward. Steve stated that he told them to stop and when they didn’t, he jumped on top of the hood,” police said.

Police asked Stanganelli “why he would go in front a vehicle and attempt to stop them.”

“He said that he has complained several times about vehicles not following traffic rules and going through stop signs and it is something that he does not particularly like,” police said. Stanganelli had earlier filed a stop sign complaint on May 30.

Merrimac and Salisbury police responded to assist with traffic during the incident on Saturday.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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