3, including MAGA driver who grabbed rifle at 2025 anti-Trump rally in Lafayette, charged
More than a year later, special prosecutor files disorderly conduct charges against man who pulled a rifle from his truck after getting headbutted in a confrontation at 'Hands Off' rally
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3, INCLUDING MAGA DRIVER WHO GRABBED RIFLE AT 2025 ANTI-TRUMP RALLY IN LAFAYETTE, CHARGED
More than a year after a confrontation during an April 2025 “Hands Off” demonstration outside the Tippecanoe County Courthouse – which included a Lafayette man dressed in Trump apparel grabbing a gun from a truck he left in traffic – a special prosecutor late Thursday filed misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct against three people involved in the scene.
James Jordan, 44, and his wife, Jessica Jordan, 38, now with a Lebanon address, were charged for their roles in a confrontation in the street that included James Jordan getting headbutted before grabbing a Ruger 5.56mm rifle from the cab of his Ford F-150 pickup truck and going back into the crowd.
Jeremy Marks, 37, of Lafayette, was charged with disorderly conduct after admitting to police that he’d delivered the headbutt after trying to stop Jordan from bodying his way into a crowd of people in a crosswalk, as they looked to get across Third Street to the sidewalk outside the courthouse.
Initial hearings for Jordans were set for May 29 in Tippecanoe Superior Court 4. An initial hearing for Marks was set for May 27 in Tippecanoe Superior Court 7, according to court records.
The charges are class B misdemeanors, which carry a potential for up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
The charges came to light Friday morning during what had been a scheduled status hearing ordered by Tippecanoe Circuit Court Judge Sean Persin to get an update from Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter. Carter had been assigned to review the Lafayette police investigation as special prosecutor on April 23, 2025. According to Persin’s order, the notice to appear had asked whether Carter needed more time or whether another special prosecutor needed to step in.
Neither Carter nor his deputy prosecutor, Jovanni Miramontes, came to Circuit Court Friday morning to discuss the charges or about missing deadlines in recent months set out by the judge. One attorney involved in the case learned about the charges only when Persin told the courtroom that he’d been informed that they’d been filed.
Attempts to reach the James or Jessica Jordan were not immediately successful Friday. Marks declined to comment.
The results of the special prosecutor’s review of the case had been highly anticipated in a situation that contributed to additional safety measures installed during similar rallies that have come in the year that followed.
The probable cause affidavit filed with the charges included differing descriptions of James Jordan going through the crowd that day, ranging from police saying he’d kept the gun at his side with the barrel pointing to the ground to a witness saying he “began waving it menacingly at the crowd.”
