Indiana Governor Mike Braun sparks war of words on social media after swiftly deleting Mark Sanchez post

Mark Sanchez’s stabbing and subsequent arrest have ignited a public spat between Republican Indiana Governor Mike Braun and Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears, a Democrat pursuing felony and misdemeanor charges against the former NFL star.

‘I’ve been clear,’ read a now-deleted X post by Braun written before Sanchez’s arrest. ‘City leaders must do their jobs and hold criminals accountable. When Indianapolis headlines national news for a lack of public safety, it hurts our city and our state. Hoosiers deserve better. Praying for a full recovery for Mark Sanchez.’

The Fox Sports announcer was hospitalized early Saturday morning after being stabbed in the chest during an altercation outside an Indianapolis pub, only to later be blamed for the incident by police and placed under arrest. The former USC star and first-round NFL Draft pick is accused of drunkenly instigating a brawl with a 69-year-old truck driver, resulting in serious injuries for both men, each of whom were hospitalized.

Mears responded to Braun online after the Governor deleted his first post, which seemed to blame crime in Indianapolis for the incident rather than the alleged aggressor, Sanchez.

‘The governor attempted to exploit senseless violence for political gain without knowing any facts,’ Mears wrote on social media. ‘The truth didn’t fit his narrative and he deleted his tweet. Real leadership requires a basic understanding of facts and a desire to do more than just blame others.’

Braun shot back on Sunday night, referencing Indianapolis’ crime and violent crime rates, both of which are above national averages.

‘If one deleted tweet finally gets [Mears] to start paying attention to the violent crime epidemic in our capital city, putting violent criminals behind bars, and keeping Indianapolis safe then I will start deleting more tweets!’ Braun wrote.

Mears’ office first charged Sanchez with misdemeanor counts of public intoxication, battery resulting in bodily injury and unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle. However, on Monday, the count of battery involving serious bodily injury was upgraded to a felony charge, which brings a potential sentence of 1 to 6 years in prison.

‘We received an amended or an additional probable cause affidavit this morning,’ Mears, a former college basketball player at St. Joseph’s of Indiana, told reporters Monday. ‘Again, this is something that happens in virtually every case here in Marion County.

‘With that additional information, we have added more serious charges against Mr. Sanchez,’ Mears continued.

‘One of the things that I want to stress to everybody is that we are still in the early stages of this investigation. [Indianapolis Metro Police Chief Chris Bailey) and his team have a number of search warrants that are still outstanding, they’re still tracking down additional information. This is by no means the end of this investigation.’

Mears stressed that further charges in the case could be coming.

‘I don’t care who you are,’ Bailey told reporters Monday. ‘I don’t care what you do for a living. I don’t care where you live. If you come into our city, commit violence, we will use all the tools that are at our disposal to hold you accountable.’

Although Sanchez suffered a stab wound that left him in critical condition, police now believe he was the aggressor in a late-night altercation with a 69-year-old truck driver identified in the affidavit as P.T.

Based on hotel security footage and testimony from P.T., Sanchez is accused of drunkenly accosting the driver, who was trying to back his box trick into a hotel’s loading dock, leading to a physical confrontation. Ultimately the driver used pepper spray and a knife in self defense, according to the affidavit reviewed by Daily Mail.

The driver suffered a cut to his cheek and a neck injury, as revealed by newly surfaced photos from P.T.’s hospital bed.

P.T. told police Sanchez smelled of alcohol and slurred his speech. Sanchez, meanwhile, told police he could not remember anything about the incident.

Daily Mail has reached out to Sanchez’s attorney for comment.

Sanchez was in Indianapolis to call Sunday’s Raiders-Colts game but was ultimately replaced by former Notre Dame and Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn.

Sanchez was the fifth-overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft before an up-and-down career with the Jets that is often remembered for the infamous ‘Butt Fumble’ – when the California native lost the football after running into the backside of offensive lineman Brandon Moore during a 2012 loss to the rival New England Patriots.

He has been with Fox Sports since leaving ESPN in 2021.