A police officer was critically injured in Maryville, Tennessee, after two law enforcement vehicles in Vice President J.D. Vance’s motorcade collided during an escort. The crash occurred Friday night and involved a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper and a Maryville Police Department motorcycle officer, both participating in the security detail for the vice president’s visit to a fundraiser in Walland.

Officials said an ambulance assigned to the motorcade immediately stopped to provide aid. The injured officer was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in critical condition. Later updates clarified that both the motorcycle officer and the state trooper were transported for evaluation, though the trooper’s condition was not publicly released.

Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp urged the community to pray for the injured officer, the family, and the medical team caring for them. The Tennessee Highway Patrol has launched an investigation into what caused the crash. The Secret Service reported that the motorcade continued without interruption and that the safety of Vice President Vance was never at risk.

This incident occurred shortly after Vance made strong political remarks criticizing Democrats. In an interview on Fox News’ Hannity, he blamed them for prolonging the 43-day government shutdown, which became the longest in U.S. history, before ending with a short-term funding bill signed by President Trump.

Vance argued that Democrats caused unnecessary stress for military families, unpaid air traffic controllers, flight disruptions, and concerns over food benefits, claiming they achieved “nothing” through their opposition. He accused them of using the shutdown as a tactic to damage the Trump administration rather than debating actual fiscal policy.

According to Vance, Democrats were willing to “burn the entire country down” to undermine Trump, insisting the final funding agreement was identical to one they had rejected weeks earlier.