Villager Ed McGinty was arrested Tuesday after following a woman to a swimming pool.
McGinty was taken into custody by Sumter County sheriff’s deputies after he violated a restraining order secured by the fellow Villager.
The 73-year-old Village of Hadley man appeared in a hearing Tuesday morning before Judge William H. Hallman III in Sumter County Court. A temporary restraining order had been issued after McGinty’s Sept. 24 arrest when he showed up at the woman’s home in The Villages. The judge on Tuesday made the order permanent. During the hearing, McGinty reportedly interrupted the judge and was threatened with being held in contempt of court.
McGinty left the courthouse a free man, but was arrested a few hours later after he went to the Hadley pool and reportedly parked within 30 feet of the woman’s golf cart – in violation of the restraining order. He was led away by deputies and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center.
McGinty was banned from the Hadley pool Sept. 23 after calling the woman a “fat slob” when she showed up to exercise in the pool wearing a “Joe Biden Sucks” T-shirt. McGinty, well known for his disdain for Donald Trump, is famous for his one-man political demonstrations in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.
