This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/29/trump-rally-photographer-secret-service-protests

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Trump rally turns violent: photographer thrown to ground amid protests Trump rally turns violent: photographer thrown to ground amid protests
(about 2 hours later)
A Donald Trump rally was repeatedly disrupted by hecklers, including some from the Black Lives Matter movement, on Monday and a Time magazine photographer said he was choked and pushed to the ground in a tussle with US secret service agents. A Trump rally at Radford University in Virginia turned ugly on Monday when Christopher Morris, an award-winning photographer with Time magazine, stepped beyond the bounds of the press pen to snap photos of Black Lives Matter protesters being escorted out of the event.
Photographer Chris Morris said he was assaulted first, never hit the agent, and will not press charges, CNN reported. Video footage from the event appears to show Morris being grabbed and thrown to the ground by a member of the US Secret Service, followed by a tussle between the two men. Once Morris was on the ground, he could be seen kicking back to free himself from the agent. He was subsequently escorted out of the event by several officers.
“I stepped 18 inches out of the [press] pen and then he grabbed me by the neck and started choking me and then he slammed me to the ground,” Morris told Reuters on the scene.
Reporter at Trump Rally accuses SS agent of choking him. pic.twitter.com/Q4oigVt3qfReporter at Trump Rally accuses SS agent of choking him. pic.twitter.com/Q4oigVt3qf
“I stepped 18 inches out of the [press] pen and then he grabbed me by the neck and started choking me and then he slammed me to the ground,” Morris said at the scene. Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in a statement after the event the campaign wasn’t aware of any details surrounding the detainment. “There was an incident involving a photographer and a USSS agent at today’s Radford University Trump rally. We are not aware of all details surrounding the incident and all future inquiries should be directed to local law enforcement.”
The Trump campaign said there was an incident involving a photographer and a secret service agent at the rally at Radford University in western Virginia. Morris is not currently pressing charges.
“We are not aware of all details surrounding the incident and all future inquiries should be directed to local law enforcement,” it said in a statement. In a statement released Monday afternoon, Time expressed concern about the “level and nature” of the agent’s interaction with Morris, and a spokesperson added: “We are relieved that Chris is feeling OK, and we expect him to be back at work soon.”
The secret service in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Secret Service in a statement following Monday’s struggle said it was “aware of an incident” that occurred in Radford, suggesting it was still too early for judgement. “At this time, our local field office is working with their law enforcement partners to determine the exact circumstances that led up to this incident. The Secret Service will provide further details as warranted once additional facts surrounding the situation are known.”
The tussle came after the hecklers disrupted the rally, which was held as the Republican frontrunner came under fire for not clearly condemning white supremacist support during an interview on CNN on Sunday. Video documentation of the incident is readily available on social media.
Most attendees of Monday’s rally – and even several members of the press – seemed oblivious to the encounter.
Trump supporter Jon Whitman, 38, of Virginia, was seated by the press area but didn’t see anyone get detained. “I didn’t see anything like that,” he said when asked if he had witnessed any physical altercations with the press. “If I remember correctly they were just giving people chances to calm down.” Other attendees, like Josh Neuses, 31, and his friend Travis Shawver, 29, were similarly unaware anything physical had transpired.
It’s not the first time Trump rallies have turned violent, with Trump slow to condemn such physicality. For example, after a Black Lives Matter protester was punched and kicked at an event this fall, Trump said: “Maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.”
Since then, Trump’s campaign has advised fans not to physically harm protesters, starting off each rally – including Monday’s at Radford – with a loudspeaker advisory that in the event they encounter a protester, people should hold Trump signs over their head and simply shout “Trump”.
But Monday’s hostile reaction to the press is not entirely shocking given Trump’s position on the media, an institution that, as he notes in practically every campaign speech, he distrusts tremendously. Monday’s scuffle occurred during a speech in which Trump called for putting limits on the press and strengthening liability laws against the media.
Just before Morris was tackled to the ground, Trump called journalists “amazingly dishonest” and “a real problem in this country”. He also told the assembled crowd of more than 3,000 that the institution is less trustworthy than politicians and, by extension, himself.
Secret Service agent choke slams reporter pic.twitter.com/jdsHOlylSBSecret Service agent choke slams reporter pic.twitter.com/jdsHOlylSB
A group of protesters from Black Lives Matter was escorted away from the raucous rally by security guards as the crowd around them began to chant, “All lives matter.” “I’m dealing with some sleazebags up here,” he said of people in politics. “But I think the press is worse – not all, but about 80%.” And the political press, he added, is “the worst of all”.
The billionaire businessman waited for the various protesters to be removed from the hall, saying, “Folks, you’re going to hear it once: All lives matter.” Trump went on to argue that the media was particularly unfair in its coverage of him, and said if elected president he would do something to ensure better coverage.
Trump paused in his remarks, ordering the security guards, “Get them out please, get them out.” “We want honesty so we’re going to get the laws changed so that the press has to be honest and if they’re not honest, if they say things that are wrong, they can be sued and they’re going to have to correct it and maybe pay penalties and maybe face something. Do you like that idea?”
At another point when a demonstrator was being ejected from the rally, Trump said: “Oh folks, isn’t it sad? We’ve gotta unify our country, we’ve gotta unify our country,” he said. “But it is fun, and exciting.” The crowd cheered wildly. “To me, I think it’s really good.”
Trump early on Monday blamed a faulty television earpiece for his failure to disavow support from white supremacist groups, swatting aside the latest controversy to shadow his unorthodox march toward the Republican presidential nomination. In its statement on Monday, Time singled out Trump’s campaign for its authoritarian treatment of reporters. “Unlike other presidential campaigns, which generally allow reporters and photographers to move around at events, Trump has a strict policy requiring reporters and cameramen to stay inside a gated area, which the candidate often singles out for ridicule during his speeches.” Time went on to note that the entrance to these gated areas is often monitored by Secret Service, as it was at Monday’s event.
On the eve of Super Tuesday, the biggest voting day in the race to pick the 2016 US presidential candidates, he tried to explain why he did not condemn backing from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke during a Sunday television interview. The event at Radford was packed to capacity and several credentialed members of the media were unable to get past security and attendant police dogs, despite arriving early to the event. Hundreds of fans were also left outside.
“I’m sitting in a house in Florida with a very bad earpiece that they gave me, and you could hardly hear what he was saying, but what I heard was various groups,” Trump said on NBC’s Today show. Trump’s speech was screened for the assembled masses outside, but many continued to pound the doors to gain entry to the event. At one point, several people climbed onto the roof and had to be shown down by security.
“I disavowed David Duke all weekend long, on Facebook, on Twitter, and obviously, it is never enough,” he added. “Let us in! Let us in!” fans chanted whenever hecklers were thrown out of the event.
Meanwhile, inside the venue a member of the press corps who had been going to Trump rallies all week called it the ugliest rally he had ever seen: “Don’t step out of the cage, that’s what you get.” And as members of the press packed up to leave, they kept recounting the story of what happened to Morris, almost as a cautionary tale.
“Careful!” one reporter joked to one another his way out the door. “Don’t step out of the cage.”