From Staff Reports

The chair of the Buncombe County Republican Party was “found guilty of assaulting a female GOP school board member” during a July 8 trial in Buncombe County District Court, the Asheville Citizen Times reported on July 9.

However, Buncombe GOP Chair Doug Brown “will likely face no punishment, with the judge characterizing the encounter as part of ‘a state of politics in this country,’” the ACT article noted.

“It was not clear the day of the July 8 guilty verdict if GOP Chair Doug Brown will be made to step down or face any other repercussions from the party,” the ACT added. “A Buncombe County district court judge found Brown found guilty of misdemeanor assault on a female nearly a year after what county school board member Amy Churchill said were two closely timed July 24, 2023 encounters at Asheville party headquarters.”

Henderson County GOP Chair Brett Callaway also recently was accused of the same misdemeanor − also against a fellow county party official (Kathy Maney) — as in the BCGOP case. However, Henderson prosecutors on June 12 declined to move forward with the charge brought by Maney against Callaway. 

In the BCGOP case, the ACT reported,
“Churchill, who opposed a local party plan to impose Republican-friendly school board electoral districts, said Brown pushed her forcefully at the end of a monthly GOP meeting. That caused her to have to steady herself, something she said was difficult because she was recovering from a broken ankle. Churchill, who is 5 feet 5 inches, said Brown, who is more than 6 feet tall, then slammed the door in her face.

“Shortly after that and still at party headquarters, she confronted him − with her phone recording the audio − and told him not to touch her, according to testimony. Brown then placed his hands on her again, she said, in a “passive aggressive way,” the ACT noted.

To the contrary, Brown denied that he pushed Churchill, telling the court, “I gave her a little ‘matadorial’ direction to the door — and I could feel some resistance.”