Matthew Arndt

Introduction

Matthew Arndt is a 54-year-old certified public accountant and investment adviser from Mequon, Wisconsin, who is running as the Green Party nominee for Congress in the state’s 6th Congressional District. On October 8, 2026, he was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge with a hate crime enhancer after he was caught on video directing a profane antisemitic tirade at an Israeli immigrant father while the man’s young son sat in the car, according to Mequon police and multiple news reports. The charge has not been tested in court: Arndt has not publicly entered a plea, and he is presumed innocent unless and until a court rules otherwise.

Background Information

Arndt is a first-time candidate seeking the U.S. House seat held by Republican Rep. Glenn Grothman. He advanced unopposed from the Green Party’s August 11 primary and appears on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot alongside Democrat Brad Smith and independents Mike Thurow and Elizabeth Fitzgibbon, according to the Heartland Post. A Wisconsin Watch candidate questionnaire describes him as a tax-accounting and finance business owner who grew up in Green Bay with nine siblings and now lives in Mequon. His campaign website, titled “End the Cartel,” calls for breaking up monopolies, Medicare for All, and severing U.S. ties with Israel, while also proclaiming that “America is for all of us—or it is not America at all” and touting religious tolerance for people of all faiths, including Jews and Muslims.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charged, not tried. Arndt has been arrested and charged but has not entered a plea, and no court has tried the charge. The account below comes from police statements, a video of the encounter, and the account of the man who filmed it as described in news coverage; the conduct attributed to Arndt is alleged. He is presumed innocent unless and until a court rules otherwise.

The encounter began around 8:50 a.m. on October 8, when the 41-year-old father, an Israeli immigrant of about 12 years in the United States, was driving his young son to school in Mequon, a Milwaukee suburb. His car carried an Israeli flag sticker reading “F–k Hamas,” and he told the New York Post that Arndt pulled up beside him, opened his window, and began cursing and gesturing, nearly pushing him out of his lane. Arndt then allegedly cut the father off and pulled into a Mobil gas station at the corner of Mequon and Wauwatosa roads; the father followed and began filming.

On the video, Arndt calls the father “a f–king piece of s–t” and “a f–king traitor,” shouting “F–k you! F–k Israel! Go f–k yourself!” and “F–k the Israel lobby! F–k the neocons!” When the stunned father asks whether he is really running for Congress, Arndt dares him to share the footage: “Go post it on social media. I’m running for Congress in the 6th District, and f–k Israel!” Asked his name, he answers, “Free Palestine! Matthew Arndt,” according to the New York Post’s account of the recording. Police said the 54-year-old used profane language and made antisemitic statements during the parking-lot confrontation. By Thursday evening, Arndt had been arrested on the disorderly conduct charge with a hate crime enhancer, Mequon police said.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The father told the New York Post he had no idea who Arndt was until the candidate volunteered his name and political ambitions on camera. “Even if I disagree with someone, I would never want someone that acts like this to run for congress,” he said, describing the outburst as “very aggressive and violent” and saying his son grew nervous in the back seat. He stressed that his bumper sticker targeted Hamas, not Palestinians: “I have nothing against the Palestinians. I definitely have an issue with an organization that wants the Jews dead.” The video, obtained exclusively by the Heartland Post, spread across local and national outlets within hours, with FOX6, WISN and the New York Post each confirming the man in the recording was Arndt.

Current Status

Arndt was arrested Thursday evening, October 8, on the hate-crime-enhanced disorderly conduct charge, according to Mequon police statements reported by FOX6 and the Heartland Post. He did not respond to the New York Post’s request for comment, and no public statement from him, his campaign, or the Green Party of Wisconsin appears in the available coverage. No arraignment date or formal court filing details had been reported as of October 8. Coverage through that date did not report any withdrawal of his candidacy from the November 3 ballot, where his name remains alongside the other candidates in the 6th District race.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The arrest landed on Arndt’s campaign five days into early voting season, attaching a hate-crime-enhanced charge and a searchable video of himself shouting antisemitic abuse at a constituent to the name he had spent months putting before voters. The episode sits awkwardly against his own campaign site, which denounces politics that “teach[] us to hate each other” and promises religious tolerance — language now quoted back against him in coverage of the rant. In a race against an entrenched incumbent where the Green nominee had staked his candidacy on personal accountability — “I don’t owe my career to either political party, corporate PACs, billionaire donors, or foreign interests,” his Wisconsin Watch questionnaire reads — the recording made him a cautionary story about down-ballot vetting in a polarized election year. The charge remains unadjudicated.

Sources

• *New York Post, “House candidate Matthew Arndt arrested after hate-filled rant at Israeli dad,” October 8, 2026 — source
• *FOX6 News Milwaukee, “Wisconsin congressional candidate arrested, tirade over Israel caught on video,” October 8, 2026 — source
• *Heartland Post, “Green Party Congressional Candidate Arrested for Antisemitic Tirade in Mequon,” October 8, 2026 — source
• *Wisconsin Watch, “Matthew Arndt: 2026 Wisconsin candidate guide,” 2026 — source
• *WISN 12, “Video shows road rage incident involving Wisconsin man who identifies as congressional candidate,” October 8, 2026 — source