Suspect arrested in assault on former U.S. Sen. Martha McSally in Council Bluffs park

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE & online.rainn.org). 

Former U.S. Sen. Martha McSally said she was sexually assaulted Wednesday while running in Council Bluffs in an incident in which she said she pursued her fleeing attacker, contacted police and described the ordeal shortly afterward on social media.

A suspect in the case was identified on Thursday and arrested Friday morning.

McSally, R-Arizona, said in an Instagram post that the attack happened on the day she was scheduled to talk about “courage and heart, and how to be a brave heart. And I just had it put to the test.”

On Wednesday, McSally, looking into the camera and acknowledging she was still feeling adrenaline from the matter, said a man groped her along a trail at Tom Hanafan River's Edge Park, located along the Missouri River in Council Bluffs.

“A man came up behind me and he engulfed me in a bear hug, and he molested and fondled me until I fought him off,” she said. “I then chased him down. I said a lot of swear words in this moment. I was in a fight, flight or freeze, and I chose to fight."

Suspect in Martha McCally assault arrested in neighboring Omaha, Nebraska

Authorities in Council Bluffs, issued a news release late Thursday evening saying that surveillance video showed a man identified as Dominic M. Henton following McSally across a pedestrian bridge on the trail.

Henton was found by Omaha police around 3:20 a.m. Friday and taken into custody. He is awaiting extradition back to Council Bluffs, according to a news release.

He is believed to be a transient who frequents riverfront areas in both Council Bluffs and Omaha.

McSally described chasing after the suspect and throwing a water bottle at him before calling 911.

“I’m OK. … It could have been much worse. I still have a lot to process and I will do that in time.”

McSally said she will process the incident in a healthy way, as she tells others to do as well.

“I know it’s tapped into a nerve of other sexual abuse and assault that I’ve been through in the past, which I’ve healed from, as much as I feel can be done,” she said.

“But in this case, I felt like I took my power back. He tried to take power from me, but I turned it on him and he was running from me instead of the other way around. Not giving anyone advice on how to respond in situations like this. It could have been much worse. … But I’m safe and I’m glad that I did that.”

Martha McSally was in Iowa ahead of a speaking event in Omaha

McSally could not be reached for comment. She is listed as a speaker at an event Wednesday with the Entrepreneurs’ Organization on the other side of the Missouri River in Nebraska.

The event is billed as “Top Gun lessons for surviving/thriving in ‘combat’ (life and business). From America’s first female combat fighter pilot. How to overcome fear, build exceptional teams, and be agile and resilient in a turbulent world.”

Discussing personal pain in an unusually public forum is nothing new for McSally, who served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives for a Tucson-area seat and two years in the Senate.

In 2019, McSally, a former Air Force combat pilot, said in a congressional hearing that she was raped by a superior officer when she was in the service.

“Like so many women and men, I didn’t trust the system at the time. I blamed myself. I was ashamed and confused. I thought I was strong but felt powerless. The perpetrators abused their position of power in profound ways,” McSally said then.

“I stayed silent for many years, but later in my career, as the military grappled with the scandals, and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know I, too, was a survivor. I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences was handled. I almost separated from the Air Force at 18 years of service over my despair. Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again.”

Her words sparked an agency review of sexual abuse but also left some victims’ advocates frustrated that McSally didn’t identify her assailant to press her case more forcefully.

In 2018, McSally said she had been sexually abused in high school.

That same year she was appointed to the Senate to replace the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., after she lost a separate race that year against Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz. She lost her 2020 election bid to keep that seat to Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and has been out of politics since.

She identifies herself as an executive coach who serves on corporate boards.

Des Moines Register staff contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Martha McSally assault: Police arrest, charge suspect in Council Bluffs