In a twist thats shaking up Montanas Senate race‚ a retired Park Service ranger Kim Peach has come forward with claims that challenge Tim Sheehys account of a bullet wound. Peach asserts that the injury‚ which Sheehy attributes to his service in Afghanistan happened during a family trip to Glacier National Park about nine years ago
Sheehy‚ a former Navy SEAL running for the Senate seat currently held by Jon Tester‚ has made his military background a key part of his campaign. The Republican candidate who received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star‚ has spoken about being wounded multiple times in combat including an arm injury in 2012
However Peachʼs account paints a different picture. He states that in 2015‚ Sheehys gun accidentally went off in a parking lot at Logan Pass. According to Peach‚ he interviewed Sheehy at the hospital and briefly took possession of the weapon. “I unloaded it and found five live rounds and one that had been fired‚“ Peach explained
Sheehys campaign quickly dismissed Peachʼs claims calling him a “partisan Democrat“ pushing a “defamatory story“. Campaign spokesperson Katie Martin defended Sheehy saying‚ “Anyone trying to take away from the fact that Tim Sheehy signed up for war as a young man and spent most of his 20s in some of the most dangerous places in the world is either a partisan hack a journalist with an agenda or outright a disgusting person“
The controversy has been simmering since last spring‚ when The Washington Post first reported on the Glacier incident. At that time Sheehy admitted to lying to the park ranger – but not about being wounded in Afghanistan. He claimed he fabricated the story to protect his SEAL unit from potential consequences of friendly fire
With the election approaching in a few weeks this development adds another layer of complexity to a race thats expected to play a crucial role in determining control of the Senate. While Democrats are seizing on the story Republicans are dismissing it as a desperate attempt to undermine Sheehys campaign
As voters in Montana begin casting their ballots‚ the truth behind Sheehys wound remains a point of contention – one that could potentially sway the outcome of this closely watched Senate race