LEXINGTON, Ky. — Republican candidate for governor Eric Deters was charged with menacing, harassment and trespassing after a run-in with his nephew on a Northern Kentucky farm.
It all started with Deters’ nephew, a juvenile, flipping him off near his driveway on Oct. 3. The criminal complaint filed by the nephew alleges that Deters then proceeded to chase his nephew, identified as “J.D.” in the report, later sending harassing texts and voicemails to his sister-in-law, the juvenile’s father.
A witness saw Deters, 59, following J.D. as closely as 2 feet behind him.
“J.D. stated that he purposefully drove past security cameras on the property for his own safety as he was being chased,” the police report reads. It also states the Deters left his sister-in-law a voice message complaining that his nephew was “tough enough to flip me off, but not tough enough to stop, to stop and confront me, the little p---- f---er ... you tell little (J.D.) that Uncle Eric doesn’t f---ing play. I don’t play.”
The complaint, written by a Kenton County police officer, states that Deters largely corroborated J.D.’s account of the events. It also quotes Deters using several expletives to explain his behavior and his intent to scare his nephew. He uses a homophobic slur, according to the report, and frequently taunts his family regarding their sexuality.
Deters tells a different story, much of it detailed in a lengthy video posted to his “Bulldog Media” YouTube channel Wednesday night.
In the 20-minute rant, Deters outlined what he said is longstanding family drama as a precursor to the most recent incident. Deters alleges his nephew had previously acted “like he was going to swerve and hit my wife when she was walking” and repeatedly rev his engine.
The incident that led to the charges began, Deters said, when he was checking his mail and the same nephew gave him the middle finger.
“It was like lightning through my blood,” he said. “I was like ‘you know what, I’m tired of this punk harassing us.'"
Deters said this is when he followed his nephew in his truck, drove up beside him and left. Deters shared with the Lexington Herald-Leader a 10-second video of him following his nephew’s truck, a couple car lengths behind him on a paved road, as proof that he was not “chasing” him.
The police later responded to Deters’ house, where he said he willingly spoke to officers about the incident.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Deters said.
He did not apologize for using homophobic language in his discussion with police, claiming that he is “not anti-gay at all,” but that he is against “woke” culture. After a Courier-Journal story on the incident was posted, Deters lambasted journalists for critical coverage of him, going as far to calling them “gay” in a video posted to Facebook on Thursday.
Deters, a lawyer who is suspended, said he will defend himself in the case. He denied making any threats against his nephew or physically harming him in any way. He also said he was not harassing his sister-in-law by contacting her.
“I stand by everything I said. This kid has been terrorizing us at the end of our driveway for a year. I wasn’t gonna hit him. I never touched him ... It’s a joke, and I embrace it. I’ll go to a jury trial — I’m not gonna get convicted. It’s really just a longstanding family dispute,” Deters told the Herald-Leader.
He also addressed a previous emergency protective order against him by his brother, saying he didn’t care about it because he did not want to be near his brother anyway. He stated that he proposed something similar to a judge presiding over the case — that he would welcome an emergency protective order against him by his nephew for the same reason.
In the Republican gubernatorial field, Deters has tried to separate himself as the most Trump-like candidate, while also advocating for policies not common in the GOP such as marijuana legalization. He’s hosted “Freedom Fest” events in both Northern and Eastern Kentucky, featuring figures prominent in American conservative circles. The Northern Kentucky event featured denials of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
In the end, Deters predicted the “bogus” charges could actually bolster his campaign because it will show voters how hard he is willing to fight for himself — and for them.
”I bet you, any of you who watch this video all the way through are going to say, ‘I like ‘em even more,’” Deters said. “I ain’t worried about those criminal charges!
“If you think I’m worried about this, you’re crazy. This will help me because the people will realize that I’m somebody that want(s) to fight for them.”
Deters’ arraignment in Kenton District Court is scheduled for Nov. 9, and in all he is charged with one count of menacing and two counts of harassing communications, both Class B misdemeanors, as well as third-degree criminal trespassing.
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