Grandview, Missouri: State Rep. Anthony Ealy Arrested in Jefferson City a Day After Winning a Third Term

GRANDVIEW, Missouri (Orbit Post) Missouri state Rep. Anthony Ealy Jr. won a third term on Tuesday with 68 percent of the vote. On Wednesday morning, Jefferson City police arrested him, and by Thursday Cole County prosecutors had filed assault and disturbing the peace charges against him.

Ealy, 32, is a Democrat and an attorney who represents District 36 in the Missouri House, which covers Grandview and part of Jackson County in the Kansas City area. He was first elected in November 2022 and is the first African American representative to represent the city of Grandview.

What police say happened in Jefferson City

According to the police incident report cited by FOX 4 Kansas City and the Kansas City Star, officers were called just before 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 4, to an apartment in Jefferson City after a woman reported that Ealy had trespassed and threatened her and her husband. The report says Ealy threatened the woman's husband, said something about a gun, and told him, "I'm going to kill you." The Jefferson City Police Department said multiple witnesses reported a man yelling and causing a scene outside a nearby business, and officers spoke with witnesses who corroborated the reported disturbance and threats. The incident report says Ealy appeared to be having a panic attack or a mental health crisis. KMBC 9 reported that Ealy was taken into custody in Jefferson City after police said he threatened someone outside a business.

Cole County's inmate records show Ealy was arrested at 11:57 a.m. on Wednesday and booked into the Cole County Jail, where he was held without bond, the Kansas City Star reported. The woman's husband plans to press charges over the threats, the incident report says. All of the conduct described in the report is an allegation. Ealy has not been convicted of anything in this case.

Charges filed Thursday

Prosecutors filed the charges on Thursday, the Star reported: a misdemeanor count of fourth-degree domestic assault, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $2,000 fine, and a charge of disturbing the peace, which carries a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Court documents cited in Kansas City reporting say Ealy lunged at a man outside a Jefferson City business and repeatedly said he would kill him, and that he claimed to have a firearm.

House Democratic leadership had already acted on Ealy months before the arrest. Marc Powers, chief of staff for House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, told reporters Ealy was removed from all of his committee assignments last spring so he could focus on personal matters, and leadership has no plans to reinstate his assignments for the 2027 legislative session. Leadership had also asked Ealy to consider letting someone else run for the seat before he announced his reelection bid. He ran anyway and won with 68 percent on Tuesday.

Powers said House Democrats were aware of the arrest but did not have details about what happened. A witness who spoke with FOX 4 said Ealy disrupted a gathering where a family was making arrangements for a relative who had died, and urged him to resign and get help. No response from Ealy or an attorney for him had been reported as of Friday morning.