The Democratic activist who went into a Republican Party event in Green Valley last week intent of being disruptive and ended up on the floor before being handed a criminal citation is a 73-year-old registered sex offender, according to public records.
Peter Jackson was arrested June 4 after a physical altercation with several attendees at a “Candidate Open Mic Kegger Event” hosted by the United Republicans of Green Valley / Sahuarita at their office in the Continental Shopping Plaza. He has a June 23 initial court appearance for two charges – simple assault and trespassing.
Among those having physical contact with Jackson was U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters, who responded to cries from among the group that Jackson struck a woman. Masters is seen on video stepping between Jackson and a woman before he is seen pulling Jackson to the ground from behind.
After the event, Masters explained he saw Jackson appear to strike a woman.
“Let me be clear: if you come to an event I’m at and attack a woman, it’s going to be a bad day for you,” he told one news outlet.
A masked-up guy with a BLM shirt crashed this GOP event tonight. Started causing trouble, then he hit a woman. So me and some guys put him on the ground, then the police came for him.
Fake news headline tomorrow: Senate Candidate Blake Masters ATTACKS Peaceful Protestor! pic.twitter.com/FgCmlZfsaq
— Blake Masters (@bgmasters) June 5, 2022
https://twitter.com/bgmasters/status/1533281109886193664?s=20&t=t2w76rl7mzUIwOCGgEdZew
Jackson’s court order to appear on the citation is not his first experience with the judiciary. Jackson was convicted in Hawaii in 2000 of sexual assault, according to court records. A jury found him guilty of placing his penis on his daughter’s body and touching her breast.
From the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii
In convicting Jackson of placing his penis on his daughter’s body and placing his hand on his daughter’s breast, the jury found the complainant’s version of events credible and Jackson’s version of events incredible. Jackson’s conduct is not constitutionally protected, such that he does not have standing to raise an overbreadth claim; (3) the family court did not err in instructing the jury.
It is unclear from the available records whether the victim was a minor at the time.
Part of Jackson’s sentence included a lifetime requirement to register with the sheriff in any county in America where he lives. Jackson appealed, but an appellate order issued in 2004 noted the jury “found the (daughter’s) version of events credible and Jackson’s version of events incredible.”
The order also noted the appellate court rejected Jackson’s arguments about Hawaii’s method for public announcement of someone’s sex offender status.
Then sometime on or before Oct. 22, 2010, Jackson was added to the State of Connecticut’s sex offender registry. He later moved to Green Valley, which is reflected on Connecticut’s public website.
However, Jackson does not appear on the public page of the State of Arizona sex offender registry. This appears due to the fact not all convicted sex offenders living in Arizona must register. And even those who do are not always publicly displayed on the registry.
A scoring system is used which considers several factors, including the level of conviction (in Jackson’s case a misdemeanor), the age of the victim, and the year of conviction.
As to last week’s event, Jackson claims he was the victim of disrespectful and unruly Republicans after he walked into their event armed with a camera. It has been reported that Jackson was asked to leave but refused, and he has been quoted as saying he was okay with disrupting the group’s event in their own office.
He says a woman in the group was the first to touch him by a push and then reportedly a punch. Several other attendees joined the melee when it appeared that a Republican attendee was placed in harm’s way. One of those was Masters.
In the end, Jackson was physically removed from the office while police were responding.
Video footage available to date shows only a limited view of the event. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department told Arizona Daily Independent on Wednesday there is body camera footage from as many as five deputies who responded to the scene after multiple 911 calls were received.
There are also several witness statements for deputies to review along with various cellphone videos from attendees and Jackson.