PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona congressional candidate says she was knocked unconscious and sexually assaulted this summer while repairing campaign signs overnight.
Bernadette Greene-Placentia told investigators that two men raped her and that she put her feet up at one point to try to fight back. She said she felt the weight of one of her attackers on her body and had bruises on her arms from being held on the ground, a bump on her head and other injuries, according to police reports.
“I knew I had been eliminated,” Greene-Placentia told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Greene-Placentia, 52, is a Democrat challenging the incumbent president Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh for the 8th Congressional District seat representing parts of metro Phoenix that are reliably red. She said she told her husband and campaign staff about the mid-August attack in Sun City days after it happened. The Phoenix New Times first reported on it.
Greene-Placentia told the AP she was disgusted that two men took control of her body and that she had no say in it. She said she decided to speak out publicly when she realized she was telling voters she would advocate for them when she wasn’t advocating for herself.
“My takeaway is that I have a lot more empathy and understand why so many women don’t come forward,” she said. “And I hope I can encourage them.”
Greene-Placentia said she did not remember many details of the Aug. 14 assault, including the exact location or a description of the men, although she said one of them wore black boots and small feet. She told investigators one of the men used a profanity to describe her and she believes he was referring to her political party.
She said she didn’t know if the attack was politically motivated, followed up or a crime of opportunity by the attackers who saw a woman in a parking lot: “I wish I knew.”
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on its investigation.
Hamadeh said in a statement: “I have read this disturbing story and call on authorities to thoroughly investigate these serious allegations, including finding all possible camera footage of the time and location, in order to prosecute the crime to the fullest extent of the law. »
“No American should be a victim of crime in their own community,” he added.
Greene-Placentia is a former long-haul trucker who later ran a small transportation company, according to her campaign.
In a social media post supporting Democrat Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 bid for president, Greene-Placentia called herself a former Republican and a “never Trumper” and said she voted Libertarian in 2016. Greene-Placentia later became more involved in Arizona Democratic Politics.
She said she often installs and repairs campaign signs at night because it is cooler than scorching summer days and there is less traffic.
Arizona Democratic Party Treasurer Greg Freeman said he received a call from Greene-Placentia, a friend who ran his 2024 campaign for county assessor, on the morning of Aug. 17. She told him she had been sexually assaulted by two men, Freeman said, and he could tell she wasn’t ready to go to police or share it publicly.
“Obviously she was handling the matter over the phone,” Freeman said. “She was just in shock. She was just horrified by what happened.”
Greene-Placentia said she wishes she had called police immediately and gone to the hospital. After the attack, she took several showers and washed the clothes she was wearing, according to police reports.
Embarrassment and anger made it difficult for her to come forward, she said. She reported the attack to police in late August.
In an interview with the AP, Greene-Placentia choked up as she explained that she had to accept the vulnerable position the attack put her in. “I have always considered myself a very strong person and I hate that someone would use their physical strength to accept that,” she said.
The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they give permission, which Greene-Placentia did.
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