Shawn R. Christy of McAdoo, on the run for three months before being captured Friday in Ohio, is fighting extradition to Pennsylvania, his father said late Monday.

“He’s fighting extradition. There’s a lot that has to come out. He’s got a really good attorney out there,” Craig Christy said.

“They’ll have to bring in all the discovery, including what happened here in McAdoo, so that’s a good thing.”

Craig Christy said his son’s three month long fugitive saga, including being charged with threatening to put bullets into the heads of President Donald J. Trump — for whom Shawn voted — and Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, and breaking into businesses and homes and stealing guns and vehicles, were all to draw focus on what the family believes is an effort to cover up the McAdoo incident.

“Shawn didn’t make those threats to actually carry them out. He was just mad and wanted to draw attention to the McAdoo (incident),” Craig Christy said. “He actually voted for Trump.”

In a phone call this weekend from an Ohio prison, Shawn told Craig, “I didn’t want to do some of the things I did out there. I just wanted to prove my point. If there’s injustice against me, I have to stand up against it,” Craig Christy said.

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The McAdoo incident, in which Shawn Christy, 26, was charged with attacking then-McAdoo Mayor Stephan Holly with a stick on March 15, 2017, triggered the monthslong flight, Craig Christy said.

“This whole thing occurred because of injustices against Shawn in McAdoo. The system failed him. It was selective justice. If you’re a famous Hollywood person, you can threaten the president, and you don’t get arrested,” Craig Christy said.

“He’s accused of crimes here in McAdoo that he didn’t commit. The injustice has to be fixed here,” Craig Christy said.

Craig Christy said that everyone from local police to a district judge to the Schuylkill County district attorney’s office are involved in the cover-up.

It was an election year, he said, and no one wanted to charge the mayor.

A videotape of the scuffle, which Craig Christy says shows the mayor attacking Shawn, took eight months to obtain, he said, and it was digitally altered, with 35 seconds deleted.

Craig Christy said the video is on YouTube.

The run

The jury selection for Shawn Christy’s trial on the McAdoo charges was to have been on May 30.

“We got a call from Shawn’s public defender, who told him he didn’t have to show up to jury selection,” the trial had been delayed, Craig Christy said.

“So Shawn went out bush crafting.”

Craig Christy explained that’s “kind of camping and survivalism, all in one.”

Then, Shawn’s mother, Karen Christy, spotted his name on a county bench warrant list.

Authorities began looking for Shawn on June 6.

Shawn Christy’s run took him through Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, New York and finally, Ohio. He stole vehicles, guns and food along the way.

Local, state and federal law enforcement officers searched for Christy throughout Rush Township, where police say he broke into a local ice cream stand and looked at the surveillance camera as he ate.

They tracked him in Luzerne County, where he reportedly broke into his uncle’s house and stole guns, in West Virginia, Maryland, and New York, where he stole weapons and vehicles.

Finally, Sept. 15, he is charged with stealing a utility truck from Skitco Iron Works in Hazle Township, Luzerne County. Police say he abandoned the truck a day later on an embankment off Interstate 71 near Columbus, Ohio and ran off into a wooded area.

Who let the dog out?

Shawn Christy’s saga took an odd twist last week when Duane Lee Chapman, known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, became involved.

His involvement indirectly led to Shawn Christy’s capture.

He said Chapman had called Karen Christy last week, before Shawn was captured.

“He said ‘a friend of the family has hired me.’ I thought it was a good idea at first. Maybe Shawn would surrender. Dog said he’d get him attorneys and work with him,” Craig Christy said.

He got a message through to Shawn that Dog was in his corner.

About an hour before Shawn was captured, he and Craig messaged for about a minute.

Craig, believing his son would be protected and supported by Chapman, called an FBI agent he knows.

“The FBI has been wonderful with us through this,” he said.

The agent “pinged” Shawn’s phone, letting authorities who were searching for him in Ohio know his approximate location. Within the hour, a K-9 sniffed Christy out from his hiding place between rocks and a stream in Richland County, and he was taken into custody.

“Then we got a big surprise,” Craig Christy said.

Around 4 p.m. Sunday they learned of a story in Newsweek in which Chapman denigrated Shawn, calling him a “spoiled brat” and bragging about how he would bring him in.

“We were furious,” Craig Christy said. “I just told my son to surrender to this guy. He surrendered because of Dog Chapman. Now I have to tell him Dog Chapman is a fake. That was one of the cruelest things I’ve ever seen.”

Craig Christy said he believes it was a publicity stunt.

“He lied to us with quite a few things. It was a nightmare,” he said.

“Dog gone. I fired him last night,” Craig Christy said. “He’s about as much a fake as everybody said he was.”

Troubles rising

Shawn Christy’s troubles stretch back to at least 2010, when he allegedly stalked and threatened former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her friend, Kristan Cole, through texts and email.

On Aug. 18, 2011: Shawn and his father were arrested on federal charges for allegedly making hundreds of harassing phone calls to Palin’s attorney.

In subsequent years, he was arrested and charged with various crimes, including parole violations, threats and harassment.

In June 2018, Shawn made the threats, on his Facebook page, against Trump and Morganelli, and the game of cat-and-mouse with law enforcement began in earnest.

Now, Shawn Christy will begin another long journey, through the federal and county judicial systems.

His parents will continue to support him.

“We don’t condone anything Shawn did, but we understand why he did it,” Craig Christy said. “Shawn’s quest wasn’t to hurt anybody.”

Craig and Karen Christy, however, were not at Shawn’s first appearance in federal court in Ohio on Monday, nor will they be there at his next hearing on Oct. 1.

“We can’t make it. We don’t have the funding right now. We talked to Shawn. He’s in good spirits. His knee’s really bad. We’re hoping they start working on that soon and get him some help,” Craig Christy said.

“If he did anything wrong, he has to pay his dues. I know he knows that. He’s an honest young man, he has a good heart,” Craig Christy said.

“We’re just hoping this thing works out. We’re hoping he can get this over and get on with his life, that he finds a good girl someday and some grand kiddies come along,” he said.

Craig Christy said that some young women on the Facebook page, Shawn Christy Political Prisoner, are visiting him in Ohio.

What advice would he give his son?

“Just really fight this thing. You proved your point. Now hang in there and fight this thing through the courts,” he said.