St. Paul City Council Candidate Arrested After Posting "Revenge Porn" Image

A man running for city council in St. Louis has been arrested after he posted a topless photo of his estranged wife to his campaign website.  

According to the Star Tribune, David Martinez, a candidate in the Ward 4 City Council race, posted the topless photo to his website, "martinezward4.wordpress.com" Saturday in what appeared to be a response to a restraining order taken out on him by his wife. 

St. Louis police said Martinez was arrested without incident 7:30 a.m. Monday at his work in downtown St. Louis for violating the state's revenge porn law. 

In a statement released over the weekend, the mayor of St. Louis, Mayor Melvin Carter, asked Martinez to drop out of the city council race saying his disturbing behavior had no place in their city. 

“David Martinez’s behavior is disturbing and has no place in our city. I wish the best to his family and our entire community as we heal from the harm his acts have caused. He should drop out of the city council race immediately,” said Carter. 

The arrest comes just weeks following a trio of incidents that included Martinez's wife accusing him of domestic abuse, the candidate being ejected and banned from Target Field after a physical confrontation with a security guard, as well as him being banned from a St. Paul library after he was arrested there for disorderly conduct

Martinez's campaign website was suspended by Wordpress late Sunday night following the topless photo post. A message on the url says "This blog has been archived or suspended in accordance with our Terms of Service." 

Martinez works as a project manager for the state of Missouri and is running against Mitra Jalali Nelson and Shirley Erstad for an open city council seat in the Fourth Ward. The special election is set to be held on August 14. 

Nelson also issued a statement in response to the arrest saying Martinez's actions related to the post about his wife "violate our most deeply-held values about basic human respect." 

“It also follows a string of public incidents involving Mr. Martinez in which his combative behavior resulted in him being ejected from two different public spaces,” Nelson said. “This pattern of behavior calls into serious question his judgment and ability to serve in public office at this time.”


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