Prosecutors in Montgomery County have dropped the charges of second degree assault and disorderly conduct against a local woman who confronted White House counselor Kellyanne Conway at a Bethesda restaurant last October.

The office has confirmed it is not moving forward with the charges against Mary Elizabeth Inabinett. In court on Monday, Montgomery County Prosecutor Kathy Knight said that “given the lack of priors, the de minimus nature of the contact, and the apology letter” from Inabinett to Conway, it made sense to drop the charges, reported the Washington Post.

While the incident in question happened in October of last year, it was first publicized during a CNN interview Conway conducted in February. Conway was eating at Uncle Julio’s, a Bethesda Tex-Mex restaurant, with her daughter and her daughter’s friends when a woman began “grabbing my arms, and was shaking me to the point where I felt maybe somebody was hugging me … She was out of control. I don’t even know how to explain her to you. She was just, her whole face was terror and anger. She was right here, and my daughter was right there. She ought to pay for that.”

However, Inabinett’s lawyer, William Alden McDaniel Jr., said at the time that his client would plead not guilty: “Ms. Inabinett saw Kellyanne Conway, a public figure, in a public place, and exercised her First Amendment right to express her personal opinions,” he said in a statement.

The alleged altercation happened during the confirmation process for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, when multiple Republican officials were confronted in local restaurants about their support for the nominee. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and his wife had their dinner interrupted at Michelin-starred Fiola when protesters chanted “We believe survivors.”

Previously:
Kellyanne Conway Says She Was Assaulted In A Bethesda Restaurant Amid Kavanaugh Confirmation