Alexander Jennes Downing.
A drunken 35-year-old Trump supporter went on a vicious and vulgar tirade against a Muslim family at a South Padre Island, Texas, beach earlier this month, but was left crying in his mugshot after being arrested on a public intoxication charge.
Alexander Jennes Downing, of Waterford, Connecticut, shouted at the family, “Donald Trump will stop you,” during the May 3 incident, which was recorded by 19-year-old Noria Alward, and posted to Youtube.
“You will never ever, ever, ever stop me,” Downing can be heard screaming. “My Christianity will rise above your Sharia law. … Guess what? ISIS don’t mean s*it to me, mother f*cker.”
South Padre Island Police told KVEO-TV officers responded to a disturbance at the Pearl Resort and found Downing “intoxicated in a public place and was a danger to himself and others.”
Downing has previously lived in New Hampshire, Florida and Spring, Texas, and has been arrested several times since 2003, court records show.
Here’s what you need to know about Downing and the incident:
1. Downing Tells the Family ‘Donald Trump Gots You Motherf*ckers … My Country Is the Greatest Country in the World’
The nearly 6-minute long video showing the incident that led to Alexander Jennes Downing’s arrest was posted to Youtube by Noria Alward on May 5. It begins by showing Downing, clad in a neon green tank top, blue shorts and flip flops, talking to a member of Alward’s family. He then goes back to his chair away from the family, but yells at them, “you want to f*ck with my country? Huh?” Downing stands up and throws his chair aside, walking back to the woman’s family.
“You’re a f*cking Muslim,” he screams at them. Downing then says, “I’m too f*cking real, you’re fake” and walks away again, as another man tries to keep him away from the family. After talking to the man for about a minute, he pushes past him and begins yelling at the family again.
(Youtube/Noria Alward)
“You will never ever, ever, ever stop me,” Downing, who is holding a plastic cup, can be heard screaming. “My Christianity will rise above your Sharia law. Your Sharia law doesn’t mean s*it to me motherf*ckers. Guess what? ISIS don’t mean sh*t to me motherf*cker.”
He then gets into the face of one of the men with Alward’s family and yells at him, “Donald Trump will stop you! Donald Trump will stop you motherf*cker!”
He then stumbles away, yelling, “Donald Trump! Donald Trump motherf*cker” while getting in the man’s face.
(Youtube/Noria Alward)
“Donald Trump gots you motherf*ckers,” Downing says while pointing at the family.
“What? What? Suck my d*ck motherf*ckers! Suck my goddamn d*ck. Right there, right f*cking there n*gga,” he yells while grabbing his crotch. He then runs up to the family and screams at them again.
“My country is the greatest country in the world, my country is the greatest country in the world,” he yells.
He then begins to pound on his chest repeatedly, saying “look at that,” and “Donald Trump motherf*ckers. … Don’t f*ck with Donald Trump. That’s my motherf*cking n*gga. That’s my motherf*cking president right there. F*ck with my president, you can’t f*ck with my president.”
He then walks away and continues to yell at the family before the video ends. Police later arrived and arrested Downing on the public intoxication charge.
(Facebook)
Noria Alward, who recorded the video, told the San Antonio Express News that Downing made several explicit gestures toward the family during the rant, which she said on Facebook lasted 20 minutes.
“First and foremost, we are Americans who happened to be Muslims. Never have I ever experienced such a thing,” Alward told the newspaper. “We did not do anything to provoke him.”
Another family member, who identified himself only as Ahmed for fear of abuse or harassment, told Buzzfeed News, “When he called it his country. It is my country too. America is my country whether he likes it or not.”
2. Alward Says Her Family, Including Her Young Cousin & Nephews, Experienced ‘Ugliness’ & ‘Aggressiveness’ While Enjoying a Reunion
Alexander Jennes Downing. (Facebook)
Noria Alward, who posted the video, wrote on Youtube that her family was at the beach enjoying a family reunion when the incident occurred, causing them to “experience ugliness and aggressiveness in the worse shape and form possible.”
Alward said the incident began when two women approached her father and asked her to help them with a stranger, later identified as Alexander Downing, who was harassing them. She wrote that her father told Downing, “please enjoy your time and have fun and let everyone else enjoy their time.” She said Downing walked away and seemed to listen, but then came back and started making racist comments:
He was yelling so loud that my uncles and my brother came over from the water to see what was going on. The insane man came close to the kids and that’s when my uncle stood up to him and defended us and the kids, including my 4 year old cousin, 4 and 2 year old nephews. The video here shows a glimpse of what we all had to experience.
Alward said her family called 911, but the man had left, so the police department said to call back if he harassed them again. When he returned, the family called 911 again:
After about 20 minutes of him going crazy he left back to the hotel. The police then came back and they arrested the man at the hotel restaurant. When we spoke to the hotel management, they said they couldn’t do anything at the time because he is in police custody and that if they see him, they will evict him. The next morning my uncle saw him at the front desk and talked to the management. They plainly told us that they can’t do anything about it right now and that if he does this again he will be arrested. I don’t understand what it takes for this hotel to take actions. Do they need someone to get hurt?
She said, “Overall we enjoyed the lovely island and we will definitely go back to South Padre again, we surely will never go back to Pearl South Padre hotel, Texas again.”
The South Padre Pearl Hotel’s general manager told Buzzfeed News his staff was not aware of the details of the incident until seeing the video on May 10. He said it occurred on a public beach, though Alward says the family entered the beach through a private entrance from the hotel.
“So we couldn’t really have the full story except that the police arrested the guy and the next day the guy checked out. But we care about our guests, we care about whatever happens in our hotel. Unfortunately, this happened outside the hotel,” general manager Abdel Zouari said.
3. Downing Harassed the Mother of His Child & Is on Probation After Admitting to a Domestic Violence-Related Attack on a Woman & Elderly Man
(Hillsborough County Sheriff)
Alexander Downing is on felony probation in Florida until 2019 after pleading guilty last year to charges of abuse of an elderly or disabled person and domestic violence battery, Hillsborough County court records. He was also sentenced to time served after spending five days in jail following his July 11, 2016, arrest in Plant City.
You can read the arrest report from the case below:
According to the arrest report, the incident involved two members of Downing’s family. Police were called about 2 a.m. for a disturbance. Downing punched the elderly, disabled man on the right side of the face with a closed fist during a verbal argument, knocking him down. Police said Downing then kicked the victim while he was on the ground.
Downing also punched the female victim in the left ear with a closed fist while she tried to shield the elderly man from Downing’s strikes, police said in the arrest report.
He pleaded guilty to the charges in November 2016. Along with probation, he was ordered to take anger management classes. It is not clear if he will be charged with violating his probation as a result of his arrest in Texas. The court allowed him to transfer his probation to Texas, where he appears to have been living at the time he was arrested in South Padre.
“You will live without violating any law. A conviction in a court of law is not necessary for such a violation of law to constitute a violation of your probation, community control, or any other form of court ordered supervision,” his probation order states. “You will not use intoxicants to excess or possess any drugs or narcotics unless prescribed by a physician. Nor will you visit places where intoxicants, drugs or other dangerous substances are unlawfully sold, dispensed or used.”
You can read the sentencing document below:
Downing also has a criminal record in Connecticut. He was arrested multiple times in New London and Waterford in 2010. He pleaded guilty to charges including second-degree breach of peace, possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana and sixth-degree larceny. Downing was sentenced to 90 days in jail, execution suspended, and one year of conditional discharge in August 2010.
According to the New York Post, Downing was also accused in 2012 of threatening and harassing the mother of his now 5-year-old daughter while he was living in Connecticut. He also attempted to kidnap his daughter, the woman claimed.
“[Downing] repeatedly harassed and threatened myself and my family through continually calling my cellphone and house phone during all hours of the day and then texting me and leaving voicemails,” according to court documents obtained by the Post. “This harassment was done in a sporadic, unpredictable, unprovoked and extremely out of control manner. It included repeated threats of bodily harm, abusive language and derogatory statements about myself, my family and my friends.”
She said Downing once showed up at her home in a “fit of rage” and demanded to see his daughter and in 2013, attempted to kidnap his daughter at the Crystal Mall in Waterford. The woman told the Post she was 19 when she met Downing, who was then 30, and he became a different person and had a drinking problem.
(Facebook)
“I have been given justification in my actions that I took to protect my daughter long ago,” the woman told The Post. “I knew he was dangerous and unpredictable, but to have the entire world witness it and agree gives me that confirmation. I feel sad that a family had to go through such an ordeal, and I hope that Alex is able to get help for all the demons he seems to have inside. Anger resonates in a person for a reason.”
She said she isn’t surprised about what happened.
“That’s how he treated me. I’m enjoying all the people talking badly about him because it’s justification for what I did,” she told the Post. “But I can’t say I’m surprised because he’s always been violent and unpredictable.”
The woman’s sister has set up a GoFundMe page, hoping the attention to Downing will help her niece. She claims Downing owes more than $25,000 in child support. You can make a donation here.
“Firstly, let me extend my heart felt apology to the family that had to endure such a horrible act of hatred and racism. I commend every single one of you for reacting so calmly and having as much patience as you did,” the woman’s sister wrote. “Although everything about that video was deplorable, I want to try to find a positive out of it. I see this as an opportunity to have a better story told through all of this. I want to honor my sister for Mothers Day for who she is and the inspiration she is. For my beautiful niece on her 5th birthday this week and hopefully raise some money for them, cause she’ll probably never get it.”
4. He Was Arrested on Drug Charges in 2003 & 2004 & Was Held on Warrants Issued by the Army
Downing in 2003 and 2004. (Polk County Sheriff)
Downing has several other arrests on his record, including two, in 2003 and 2004, according to court records. Those records show he was wanted in both occasions on fugitive from justice warrants issued by the U.S. Army in Kentucky. It is not clear if Downing was serving in the military at the time of those arrests.
He was arrested in Polk County, Florida, in October 2003 on charges of possession of not more than 20 grams of marijuana and being a fugitive of justice. The U.S. Army in Kentucky was listed as the agency holding the arrest warrant. He was released to the military in November 2013. He pleaded guilty to the marijuana charge.
Downing was then arrested again in Polk County in January 2004 on a fugitive from justice warrant, along with a traffic violation while driving with a suspended license and first-degree petit larceny of items worth $100 to $300. He was released, again to the Army, in February 2004.
He has lived in southeastern Connecticut and Spring, Texas, in recent years. Downing is a native of New Hampshire, according to arrest records, and has also lived in Plant City and Lakeland, Florida. He was identified in arrest reports last year as a cook at a chain barbecue restaurant.
5. Downing Was Released on Bail After the Public Intoxication Arrest, but the South Padre Police Chief Says More Charges Could Come
(Facebook)
Alexander Downing was released on bail after being booked into the South Padre Island Jail on May 3, KVEO-TV reports.
“He was released later that night and he actually went back to the hotel like nothing ever happened!!!” Noria Alward said on Facebook. “Thanks to the cops who took the insane man right away and assured us that this is a nice place but every now and then they get a crazy person like this.”
South Padre Island Police Chief Randy Smith told KVEO, ” “I was saddened. Just want to say there is no way any of us here that work for the city would not tolerate anything like that. We try to create an environment where people can come to the beach, have a good time and have a good time with their families and enjoy themselves. The last thing we want is for someone to be harassed and taunted by an intoxicated subject that is blatantly out of line.”
Smith said further charges can still be brought against Downing.
“Anyone that was offended that day that wants to file additional charges are welcome to contact our agency,” Smith told the news station on May 10. “Our doors are always open to that.”
Ahmed, Alward’s family member, told Buzzfeed News, that Downing “doesn’t represent the masses,” but needs to be “charged for what he’s done.”
Ahmed also thanked the “beachgoers that stood by our side,” including a man who can be seen trying to create a buffer between Downing and the family. “Hats off to him,” Ahmed told the news site.
Downing could not be reached for comment and it is not clear if he has hired an attorney.
