Evan McMullin.Photo: Rick Bowmer/AP/Shutterstock
A man has been charged with a misdemeanor after he was accused of following a Utah Senate candidate after a campaign event.
Elsewhere in McMullin’s statement, CNN reports that the candidate noted Whelchel’s social media pages, saying they discuss “guns being the tools with which to carry on this war against those he opposes politically.” CNN adds that Whelchel’s Facebook page “features several far-right memes.”
Whelchel’s attorney, Brixton Hakes, disputed McMullin’s description of the event, telling CNN his client “never brandished a firearm,” but adding that Whelchel instead placed a firearm on the center console of his truck.
A hearing is scheduled for next month, according to CNN.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.
McMullin is a former undercover CIA officer who later worked as chief policy director for the House Republican Conference on Capitol Hill. He left the Republican Party in 2016, afterDonald Trumpwon the Republican nomination for president, and launched a last-minute presidential bid as an independent that same year.
Speaking to PEOPLE earlier this year, McMullin said: “People are sick of the divisiveness. We’ve got mounting challenges in Utah — inflation is worse here than almost anywhere else, air quality is a real challenge especially during the summer, we’re running out of water in an historic drought, we’ve got high cost of health care and on and on. Politics of division and extremism just don’t solve them, and people are tired of it.”
source: people.com
