Twenty-one-year-old Kansas House Rep. Aaron Coleman (D) faces calls for his resignation after he was reportedly arrested for drunk driving early Saturday morning, marking his second arrest in a month.
A Kansas Highway Patrol trooper arrested Coleman on Interstate 70 near Lawrence around 1:00 a.m., the Associated Press (AP) reported. The young lawmaker was taken into Douglas County Jail, where he was released on a $250 bond, according to KCTV 5.
Coleman did not immediately respond to AP phone calls or email seeking comment Monday morning.
At the time of Saturday’s arrest, the 21-year-old was out on bond from a previous domestic battery arrest that occurred October 30. The AP reported, “He allegedly pushed, hit and spit on his 18-year-old brother in a fight that erupted because the brother was going to get baptized, according to court documents.”
The Kansas lawmaker faces calls of resignation from the state’s Democrat leadership following his latest episode.
In a release tweeted by the Kansas House Democrats, House Democratic Leader Tom Sawyer stated:
I want to reiterate what I have said in the past: It is clear Representative Coleman is in dire need of help. For the sake of the state of Kansas, his constituents, and himself, he should resign and concentrate on getting the help he badly needs. The stress of the legislature is not a healthy environment for someone in this mental state.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) weighed in on the arrest stating, “He is not fit to serve in the Kansas House of Representatives” and “his continued presence in the Legislature is a disservice to his constituents,” according to KCTV 5.
“He should resign immediately and seek the treatment that he needs. If he does not resign, the Legislature should use its process to remove him from office,” the governor added.
The representative’s dicey past extends back to before he took elected office.
In August of 2020, Breitbart News reported:
Coleman has admitted to disturbing behavior when he was younger. By his own account he harassed girls online, including telling a girl she was fat and should kill herself. He also told then 13-year-old Kati Hampton that he would circulate a nude photograph of her unless she sent him more of the same. When he refused, he did as threatened.
Hampton offered her story to the Kansas City Star, saying, “He got one of my nudes and blackmailed me with it and told me if I didn’t send him more he would [send] it to all of my friends and family,” she told the Kansas City Star. “And when I didn’t send him more, he sent it to everyone I knew. I don’t know how he got the picture. All I know is he’s an awful person and he should not be allowed to run for anything.”
Coleman offered an apology for the behavior, telling the Star editorial board he “made serious mistakes in middle school and I deeply regret and apologize for them.” Coleman said he has “grown up a great deal since then.”
Coleman represents 21,850 constituents in Kansas’s 37th District and assumed office on January 11, 2021, according to Ballotpedia.