{"id":2186979,"date":"2026-10-08T14:10:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2186979"},"modified":"2026-10-08T14:10:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:10:58","slug":"arizona-congressional-candidate-says-she-was-raped-while-repairing-campaign-sign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2186979","title":{"rendered":"Arizona congressional candidate says she was raped while repairing campaign sign"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/1772\/live\/b1c65680-c30e-11f1-8f04-85217d686658.png”]<\/p>\n

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\"BernadetteBernadette Greene-Placentia\/Bernadette for Congress<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Warning: This article contains details which some readers may find distressing.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A congressional candidate in Arizona has said she was raped in a car park as she repaired campaign signs late at night in her district.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Bernadette Greene-Placentia, a Democrat, told the Phoenix New Times she was knocked unconscious during the alleged attack in the Phoenix suburb of Sun City on 14 August, waking up to find a man on top of her. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She said she did not initially notify police until filing a report with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office two weeks later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Her Republican opponent, Abraham Hamadeh, urged authorities in a statement to “investigate these serious allegations thoroughly, including finding all possible camera footage of the time and place”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“No American should become a victim of a crime in their own community,” said Hamadeh, who is running for a second term in office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Greene-Placentia told the Phoenix New Times she was “embarrassed” and “just wanted to forget”, but felt compelled stand up for other victims.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The candidate said she often speaks on the campaign trail about fighting for Arizonans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She told the Phoenix New Times: “I didn’t feel like I could keep saying that if I weren’t also fighting for women that are victims of sexual assault.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The BBC has contacted the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for comment. A sheriff’s spokesman told the New York Times the investigation was ongoing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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After the attack, Greene-Placentia said she withdrew from the public for two days, staying in an apartment separate from her husband and skipping a campaign event. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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When she emerged, her husband, campaign staff and others in her circle noticed she was acting differently, according to Phoenix New Times. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Greene-Placentia said she did not see a doctor following the alleged attack in congressional district eight and did not receive a sexual assault examination. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She said her memory of what happened was spotty and she did not get a good look at either of the two assailants, but described them as white men, according to the New York Times. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She told the Phoenix New Times that one assailant may have made a comment about her political affiliation, together with a misogynistic slur, although she could not be certain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The candidate said she was concerned voters might think it was a political stunt to win points in a heavily Republican district. She also expressed concern that the allegations might overshadow her messaging around affordability.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at <\/i>Befrienders Worldwide<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A list of UK organisations that can help is available <\/i>here<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c65yndpnk5qdo”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/1772\/live\/b1c65680-c30e-11f1-8f04-85217d686658.png”] Bernadette Greene-Placentia\/Bernadette for Congress Warning: This article contains details which some readers may find distressing. A congressional candidate in Arizona has said she was raped in a car park as she repaired campaign signs late at night in her district. Bernadette Greene-Placentia, a Democrat, told the Phoenix New Times she was knocked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2186979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2186979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186979\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2186979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2186979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2186979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}