Multiple videos show a Donald Trump supporter sucker-punching a black protester as he is being led out of a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, by police Wednesday night.
The videos, including one you can watch above, show that the person who threw the punch, an older white man in a cowboy hat, was not provoked.
Rakeem Jones, the victim, told the Washington Post, “Boom, he caught me. After I get it, before I could even gain my thoughts, I’m on the ground getting escorted out. Now I’m waking up this morning looking at the news and seeing me getting hit again.”
Police ignored the Trump supporter, instead tackling Jones to the ground. The Trump supporter was identified Thursday as 78-year-old John McGraw, of Linden, North Carolina, WNCN-TV reports. He has now been charged with assault and battery and disorderly conduct, the news station reports.
Read more about McGraw at the link below:
You can watch the aftermath of the punch in the video below, recorded by another protester:
Jones told the Post he was at the rally with a “diverse” group of friends that included a white woman, a Muslim and a gay man, and that they went to the rally as a “social experiment.” He said the woman in their group began shouting a Trump during the speech, but they never got physical.”
He told the newspaper he blames the Cumberland County police officers for not protecting him and for not detaining the man who attacked him.
Other videos also show the punch:
“It’s happening at all these rallies now and they’re letting it ride,” Jones said. “The police jumped on me like I was the one swinging My eye still hurts. It’s just shocking. The shock of it all is starting to set in. It’s like this dude really hit me and they let him get away with it. I was basically in police custody and got hit.”
The incident comes at the same time as the Trump campaign is battling an accusation that campaign manager Corey Lewandowski grabbed a Breitbart reporter, Michelle Fields, by the arm and pulled her aside after a press conference Tuesday night.
The Trump campaign denied the allegation in a statement on Thursday:
NEW: Trump campaign spokesperson Hope Hicks responds to allegations campaign manager assaulted Breitbart reporter:
Fields posted a photo shortly after the tweet was issued, showing bruises on her arm:
The campaign has not responded to that tweet. Read more about Fields and that incident at the link below:
