Grinnell Police Chief Believes Ramaswamy Collision Was ‘Unintentional’

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks to reporters on Oct. 5, 2023. (CNN/Screenshot via NTD)

Grinnell Police Department Chief Michael McClelland stands by his department’s Oct. 5 media statement finding no evidence a collision involving a Vivek Ramaswamy campaign vehicle was intentional.

“I don’t believe it was intentional,” Chief McClelland told The Epoch Times in an Oct. 10 phone call.

“As far as I’m concerned unless additional evidence surfaces, it’s closed.”

But the Ramaswamy campaign has disputed much of the police chief’s account.

The incident took place during Mr. Ramaswamy’s visit to Grinnell, Iowa, home of a liberal arts college of the same name.

The driver of the Honda Civic that collided with a Ramaswamy Ford Expedition, Celia Meagher, is a student at Grinnell. Reporting in a Grinnell student newspaper has named Nic Grofsorean, another student, as Ms. Meagher’s partner and passenger.

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Mr. Ramaswamy’s visit to the college town was marked by protests as well as less explosive interactions.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr. Ramaswamy posted that he “had a civil exchange with protestors today, right before two of them then got into their car and rammed it into ours.”

“Those two should be held accountable, but the rest of the peaceful protestors shouldn’t be tarred by the behavior of two bad actors,” he added.

Yet, a few hours after Mr. Ramaswamy’s X post, the Grinnell Police Department released a statement about the incident on social media that directly contradicted his account.

“It was reported on social media that two protesters intentionally rammed into the Ramaswamy’s [sic] vehicle and fled the scene. Our investigation has found no evidence to substantiate that information.

“Meagher stated she was not in the area to protest, she did not know who the vehicle she struck belonged to, she did not intentionally back into the vehicle, and she did not flee the scene of the accident,” the police statement reads.

The Police Chief’s Explanation

Chief McClelland told The Epoch Times that the responding officer, Dalton Kies, asked Ms. Meagher if she was there to protest. She said she wasn’t.

On X, Ramaswamy senior adviser Tricia McLaughlin has taken issue with the police department’s version of events, posting footage of the vehicle that appeared to show one or more occupants making an obscene gesture at Mr. Ramaswamy and honking at him.

Ms. McLaughlin told The Epoch Times that Chief McClelland told her he was unaware of the obscene gesture, honking, and profanities apparently issuing from the car. Chief McClelland did not dispute the accuracy of that account.

“From the video that they’ve sent to me, the driver appears to be flipping him the bird,” the police chief told The Epoch Times.

“She was probably behaving in a manner I would not condone,” he added.

While the Ramaswamy campaign wants the police department to revise its statement, Chief McClelland does not think that is necessary.

“I don’t see a reason to change what I put out,” he said.

Officer Kies concluded there was less than $1,500 worth of damage to the campaign vehicle. That placed it under the threshold of a reportable accident—one either reported on an Iowa Accident Report Form or investigated by law enforcement.

The Ramaswamy campaign provided The Epoch Times with the Driver Information Exchange Report that resulted from the incident. It lists Ms. Meagher as the driver of the Civic. The report lists Collin Corbett as the driver of the Ramaswamy campaign vehicle, which was reportedly unoccupied at the time.

Chief McClelland said that no one from his department was alerted that the Ramaswamy campaign was there. He told The Epoch Times that he was made aware of the campaign’s presence thanks to a call from a Des Moines television station, KCCI.

Chief McClelland told The Epoch Times that Officer Kies interviewed both Ms. Meagher and Mr. Corbett after the collision.

“There was no comment about any kind of vulgar hand gestures or profanity” at that time, according to Chief McClelland.

The police chief said he later spoke with Mr. Corbett as well.

“He [Mr. Corbett] made no comments about any kind of aggression,” Chief McClelland said.

In a message, Ms. McLaughlin told The Epoch Times that Mr. Corbett “did tell the police officer at the scene about the aggressive behavior [flipping off, etc.].”

According to Chief McClelland, Mr. Corbett told him he did not think Ms. Meagher rammed the campaign vehicle on purpose. Chief McClelland said Mr. Corbett mentioned a boot on Ms. Meagher’s foot, which led the chief to come away with the view that it might have been the cause of the incident.

Ms. McLaughlin disputes that narrative.

“Collin never said the accident was intentional or unintentional. He said he didn’t know [we can’t assign motive],” she said.

“We issued a summons for a traffic violation,” Chief McClelland said.

The Epoch Times obtained a traffic ticket case record in Poweshiek County involving Ms. Meagher. The Grinnell Police Department has confirmed that it corresponds to the Oct. 5 incident.

The Grinnell police chief told The Epoch Times that he was unaware of any evidence that could demonstrate criminal intent by Ms. Meagher, which he said could lead to charges of criminal mischief.

“We would have to be able to show that she intentionally backed up in a manner that was reckless” and targeting Mr. Ramaswamy’s campaign vehicle, according to Chief McClelland.

Ms. McLaughlin said the campaign isn’t pursuing any additional legal action.

“We just want the truth out there,” she said.