Secret Service to investigate incident with Time photographer
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Version 0 of 1. The Secret Service is investigating a widely publicized incident in which an agent threw a Time magazine photographer to the ground at a Donald Trump rally in southwest Virginia that also saw chanting protesters walk out after accusing the Republican front-runner of racism, federal officials said Tuesday. But tensions over the handling of the protest eased, as several demonstrators said some media reports that they had been forcibly ejected from the chaotic event were wrong. The demonstrators said they had chosen to leave on their own and were escorted out by police. The twin incidents at the Trump rally on the eve of Super Tuesday raised questions about the role of the Secret Service on the campaign trail. [Inside the hectic scene at a Donald Trump rally in Radford, Va.] Government officials on Tuesday defended the service’s performance, saying its single-minded mission is to protect Trump and other candidates, and that any decisions to throw out hecklers are made by the campaigns or groups hosting their events. Agents intervene, they said, only if someone verbally or physically threatens the candidate. “We don’t care if people are standing and yelling at a candidate, or saying they want peace in the Middle East, but if they say they’re going to kill the candidate, then it’s going to get pretty bad,’’ said one official familiar with Secret Service procedures, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the events at Monday’s rally remain under investigation. Trump, the Republican front-runner, requested Secret Service protection in October and was granted a detail of agents in early November, a move authorized by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. Federal law authorizes the service, which is part of DHS, to protect major presidential candidates and secure the venues they visit. Things turned nasty, however, between one of those agents and the Time photographer, Christopher Morris, at Monday’s Trump rally in a packed gymnasium at Radford University in Radford, Va. [Donald Trump and David Duke: For the record] Morris was attempting to leave the press section to photograph the protesters as they were walking out when he got into a scuffle with the unnamed agent, who was apparently trying to keep him in the press area. Trump has grown increasingly strict about media access as his campaign has progressed, with reporters often not allowed to leave the “press pen,’’ as it’s known, even for a trip to the bathroom without an escort. Videos of the incident — captured by reporters and people in the crowd — show Morris cursing at the agent, the two scuffling and the agent then throwing Morris down. The videos show Morris kicking the agent while on the floor and then briefly grabbing the agent’s neck after he stands up before being briefly detained by police. In a statement, Time said it had contacted the Secret Service “to express concerns about the level and nature of the agent’s response.” Morris, in a brief interview with reporters as he left the rally, said he had only grabbed the agent’s neck to demonstrate what he said was a chokehold the agent put him in. “I never punched him. I never touched him,’’ Morris said in the interview. In a statement released by Time, the photographer called the confrontation “very unfortunate and unexpected.’’ “I regret my role in the confrontation, but the agent’s response was disproportionate and unnecessarily violent,’’ Morris said. The Secret Service declined to comment, other than to say in a statement that it is working with local law enforcement officials to learn “the exact circumstances that led up to this incident.’’ Officials familiar with the service’s investigation said it is scouring the Internet and other sources for additional videos of the confrontation and trying to track down witnesses. But several government officials who viewed the videos that exist defended the agent, saying he appeared to be under verbal and possibly physical assault from Morris. “This guy gets up and puts his hands on the agent’s throat,’’ said one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is not complete. “That agent showed incredible poise.’’ The protest that led to the confrontation began after Trump was interrupted by another demonstrator and repeatedly shouted at the woman, “Are you from Mexico?” as she stepped down from the bleachers. With that, at least 30 students from the school’s Black Student Alliance and other groups rose, clasped hands and began chanting “No more hate, no more hate, let’s be equal, let’s be great,’’ several students said Tuesday. “What Trump said was just pure and blatant racism,’’ said Omawali Murray, president of the school’s Muslim Student Association, who added that the students got up and walked out on their own and were peacefully escorted out by police as Trump supporters yelled at them. “They were very polite. I have no problem with how they handled it,’’ Murray said of the officers. He added that he thought the Secret Service agent had used excessive force on the Time photographer, though he saw the confrontation only on video after he had left the rally. “I don’t think that much force was necessary,’’ Murray said. Fenit Nirappil contributed to this report. |