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Former South Carolina senator and ex-Charleston County GOP chairmanJohn Kuhn was arrested on Thursday for the second time in three months – this time for assault.
Kuhn, 61, was booked at the Charleston County detention center at 11:00 a.m. EDT on Thursday, according to jail records obtained by this media outlet. As of this writing, no information is available regarding his bond as his charges had not immediately hit the county’s public index.
What happened?
According to a Charleston Police Department (CPD) incident report obtained by this media outlet under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Kuhn slapped a worker in the face on East Battery Street during a verbal argument that unfolded at approximately 11:15 a.m. EDT Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
“(Kuhn) used an open hand to strike the left side of (the worker)’s face causing his sunglasses to fall off his face,” the report (.pdf) alleged.
According to the police report, Kuhn arrived at the address in question and began to “yell” at the driver of a vehicle owned by a waste management company called Trash Gurl. The vehicle was reportedly swapping out a dumpster at a property located on East Battery Street at the time of the incident.
Kuhn allegedly parked his white Range Rover behind the vehicle – blocking it from exiting and reportedly causing traffic behind both vehicles to “build up.”
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The worker allegedly slapped by Kuhn told police he was attempting to deescalate an argument between the irascible attorney and a Trash Gurl employee who was driving the truck – as well as attempting to eliminate the ensuing traffic congestion on the road caused by Kuhn’s vehicle.
“Can you please move you vehicle and let this guy out?” the worker told Kuhn, according to the report. “You are holding up traffic.”
At this point, Kuhn initiated an argument with the worker which ended with the alleged assault.
According to the incident report, multiple video recordings of the incident exist – including a dashboard camera located on the Trash Gurl vehicle and a cell phone video recorded by a witness. It is not immediately clear whether CPD officers obtained any footage of the incident prior to arresting Kuhn. At the time the incident report was submitted, however, officers indicated they were “still awaiting” dash camera footage from Trash Gurl.
Kuhn’s latest arrest comes ten weeks after he was charged with hit-and-run resulting in property damage and “improper passing” in connection with this shocking incident in downtown Charleston, S.C.
Kuhn was released back in March on a $10,232 personal recognizance bond. It is not immediately clear whether his latest arrest violated the conditions of that bond.
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Kuhn represented S.C. Senate District 43 (map) from 2001-2003.A decade later, he ran unsuccessfully for the Palmetto State’s first congressional district – receiving6.5 percent of the vote in a 16-candidate field. Six years later, Kuhn waselected chairmanof the Charleston GOP – butresignednine months later after a dispute with the party’s treasurer and first vice chairman.
As noted in our previous coverage, Kuhn has long drawn scrutiny for his uneven temperament – including multipleroad rage incidentsand a 2009 situation in Atlanta in which he wastemporarily removedfrom a domestic flight for refusing to turn off a portable electronic device.
At the time of his latest arrest, our media outlet was in the process of investigating yet another alleged road rage incident involving Kuhn which took place just days after his March 14, 2024 arrest.
As with anyone accused of committing any crime, Kuhn is considered innocent until proven guilty by our criminal justice system – or until such time as he may wish to enter some form of allocution in connection with a plea agreement with prosecutors related to any of the charges filed against him.
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THE REPORT …
(Charleston County Police Department)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folksis the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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