A 25-year-old suspect, Dominic Henton, is now in custody after allegedly groping former U.S. Senator Martha McSally during her jog. The incident occurred in River's Edge Park in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where McSally was running before a speaking engagement in Omaha.
McSally, 57, recounted the assault in a Facebook video on Wednesday, describing how a man approached her from behind, engaged her in a bear hug, and assaulted her until she fought him off. In a state of adrenaline, she pursued the assailant, hurling her water bottle at him and calling 911 while he hid in nearby brush. Despite her efforts, authorities were initially unable to locate the suspect.
By Thursday evening, the Council Bluffs Police Department released surveillance photos of the suspect, announcing a warrant for Henton's arrest. He was apprehended early Friday morning in Omaha and will be extradited to Council Bluffs to face a charge of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.
Addressing Henton on social media, McSally asserted, "Dominic Henton, you will not get away with this or try to harm and violate another woman. You picked the wrong target."
McSally, a Republican who served as Arizona's senator from 2019 to 2020 and spent four years in the House, has previously shared her experience with sexual abuse. In a 2019 congressional hearing, she revealed being raped by a superior officer while in the Air Force, where she was the first female fighter pilot in combat.
Her disclosure emphasized the challenges survivors face in reporting sexual assault and the power dynamics that enable such abuses. McSally retired as a colonel from the Air Force in 2010 and has been an advocate for addressing sexual abuse within the military.
She had also disclosed surviving sexual abuse in high school, highlighting how these experiences, while not defining her, have strengthened her commitment to fighting for others, particularly girls, women, and the vulnerable.
