Chicken-suit wearing New Hampshire GOP staffer arrested for disorderly conduct

The New Hampshire Senate race has now been engulfed in a case of fowl play.

A state Republican staffer who has been wearing a chicken suit and following Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen around — in order to challenge her to hold town hall meetings — was arrested for disorderly conduct this past Saturday, the local ABC affiliate reports, for disrupting both Shaheen and Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) during a local parade.

The police in Londonderry say the chicken man — whose real name is Michael Zona, age 23 — was told repeatedly to "cease and desist his activities," and that as a result of his actions Hassan backed away toward her security detail. He continued to flap his wings, however, and was arrested when officers saw him yelling at Shaheen and Hassan.

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Zona, however, will not back down from this ruffling of feathers.

"I believe Sen. Jeanne Shaheen should be holding town halls and I have a First Amendment right to express that point of view," said Zona. "I wasn't bothering anyone. I wasn't disturbing anyone. In fact, I got a good deal of encouragement from people along the parade route."

Below is a photo of Zona — not quite crossing the road, but following Shaheen right down the middle of it. --Eric Kleefeld