Marianna Treviño Wright, executive director of the National Butterfly Center and outspoken opponent of the border wall, says she was assaulted last week by a congressional candidate from Virginia.

Treviño Wright claims that Kimberly Lowe, who is seeking the Republican nomination for the 9th Congressional District of Virginia, assaulted her after Lowe and another woman allegedly trespassed on the center’s property Jan. 21.

The pair arrived at the butterfly center seeking to access the banks of the Rio Grande where they hoped to see migrants crossing into the United States, according to a now-deleted video Lowe posted via Facebook Live.

“This area that we’re going to right now we can have river access and actually see people going down rafts, those rafts are provided for by the cartel,” Lowe can be heard saying as the video focuses on a country road.

“A lot of everything down here is off of Military Road and this is an area close to the Butterfly Conservancy (sic). … I know the gate is closed off right there, but we’re gonna try to walk in and see how bad it is,” Lowe said.

Treviño Wright says the two women entered the butterfly center’s visitor center, where she told them that they were not welcome on the private property, and that the road they were trying to access also belongs to the butterfly center.

In an audio recording Treviño Wright provided to The Monitor, Lowe can be heard saying, “We’re not here to cause any problems.”

“No, you’re here to promote your agenda, and your agenda is not welcome here,” Treviño Wright responds, after having said she had looked up Lowe’s campaign Facebook page.

“So you’re not for helping all these poor people and the humanitarian crisis? You’re okay with children being sex trafficked and raped and murdered?” Lowe asked.

Treviño Wright then reiterates that Lowe and her companion, a woman identified only as “Michelle,” need to leave.

“We’re leaving now, thank you so much. But, um, I’m sorry that you’re okay with children being raped and murdered,” Lowe said.

A few seconds later, Lowe can be heard speaking in what sounds like another Facebook Live video stream. Suddenly, she can be heard screaming, “You did not take my phone!”

It’s at this moment that Treviño Wright alleges she was assaulted — physically shoved to the ground as she attempted to stop Lowe from continuing her livestream where she had again begun to accuse the butterfly center’s executive director of being “okay” with child sex trafficking.

“I put my hand up to block the phone… and then I was on the ground,” Treviño Wright said via phone Thursday.

“I was on the ground and one of them said something about ‘killing’ and the other said something about ‘stay on the ground, b – – – -!’” she said.

Indeed, in the audio recording, Michelle, who had moments earlier claimed to be an agent with the U.S. Secret Service, can clearly be heard saying, “Get the f – – – down, b – – – -!”

What followed next is hard to decipher, as sounds of a brief struggle and argument ensue. Treviño Wright can be heard yelling at Michelle to return her phone, which she said the woman had taken from her.

As the pair from Virginia return to their vehicle, Treviño Wright can be heard in another short video clip shouting an expletive as she again tells them to get off the property.

Reached for comment Thursday, Lowe wholly denied Treviño Wright’s allegations, and instead said it was Treviño Wright who had assaulted her and Michelle.

“In short, this woman verbally and physically assaulted us, stole my phone, kidnapped us, and tried to keep us from leaving, and filed a false police report,” Lowe said in an emailed statement.

“This is purely a political attack; she is now making up more stories saying I tried to hit her son when he ran to the gate to lock us in and blocked the exit with his arms out. I did not try to hit him!” she further stated.

But in another now-deleted video that Lowe streamed to her Facebook page, she can be heard yelling, “Get out of my f – – – – – – way! Get the f – – – outta my way!”

During the video, the camera is pointed at Lowe and not in the direction that the vehicle is traveling.

Both Treviño Wright and Lowe contacted Mission police to report the incident, a fact confirmed by Mission police Thursday. The Monitor is awaiting a response to the public information request it filed for the police reports related to the incident.

Lowe maintains that police “cleared” her of any wrongdoing, and said the allegations are politically based.

“Everything that she said is a lie. The entire police report was a lie. It’s just a political attack and that’s completely true,” Lowe said via phone Thursday.

Treviño Wright and her son submitted written affidavits to the police. Treviño Wright also turned over video footage from the center’s security system, as well as the audio and video clips she recorded with her phone.

She also turned over copies of the videos Lowe has since deleted from her Facebook account.

Meanwhile, the National Butterfly Center announced via Twitter on Thursday that it would be closing its doors from Friday through Sunday due to “credible threats” it had received.

The center claims it has received threats in relation to a three-day-long Republican fundraising event that will be taking place in the Rio Grande Valley this weekend.

The event, hosted by We Stand America, is slated to include comments from Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the onetime national security adviser to President Donald Trump.

Other speakers expected to appear include Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, former ICE Director Tom Homan, former Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan and several others.