Monitor Editor
STARKE— An Alachua County jury convicted District 3 U.S. Congressional candidate Tom Wells of resisting an officer.
Wells is attempting to unseat first-term incumbent Kat Cammack, who represents Bradford and Union counties in Washington.
Wells was arrested on Jan. 30 at the University of Florida after handing out campaign literature during the Family Extravaganza, hosted by UF’s Hispanic Student Association.
According to an arrest report, University of Florida Police approached the defendant after the event organizer told them Wells was harassing students.
“The event coordinator asked Wells to leave due to him making the students uncomfortable, and she did not want to make the event politically-based,” wrote the arresting officer. “(Another officer) and I approached Wells and informed him that the event coordinator wanted him to leave the premise, and he refused. He stated he did not recognize our authority to escort him out.”
The officer added that after the defendant resisted their efforts to escort him away from the event, the two officers took the 71-year-old to the ground, handcuffed him, and walked him out of the event.
Wells’s June 28 trial lasted 20 hours and ended at 3 a.m. the following morning.
After the guilty verdict, Judge Meshon T. Rawls ordered Wells to pay $276 in fines and court costs.
In addition, UF has banned him from the campus for three years.
