It may seem redundant to use the phrase “an unhinged Trump supporter,” but the reality is that unfortunately, we have to rely on our readers to understand that “Trump supporter” already means they’re loopy, and when you add “unhinged,” it means you should probably stay about 15 feet away from them.
That was the case Monday night at Donald Trump’s “Finish The Wall” rally in El Paso, Texas, an event that was decried by local leaders and by members of Congress as violent, false rhetoric that smears the people of El Paso, the law enforcement agencies there, and the spirit of community that exists in the area.
It was bad enough when we found out in real time that Trump was lying about the crowd that was in attendance, but as it turned out, the most violent person in the area last night wasn’t some crazed drug trafficker that snuck across the border — it was that unhinged Trump supporter we mentioned. During Trump’s speech, a so far unidentified man in a MAGA hat ran down a set of stairs and leaped onto a platform where multiple camera crews from various news organizations were filming from, knocking over cameras and pushing reporters off the platform.
BBC reporter Gary O’Donoghue tweeted footage of the attack in which his cameraman was toppled by the assailant, who was yelling “Fuck the media!”
This is the shameful moment when my cameraman Ron Skeans was attacked by @realdDonaldTrump supporter in El Paso – after the President repeatedly goaded the crowd over supposed media bias. Happily Ron is fine #TrumpElPaso pic.twitter.com/F3pv04fRBg
— Gary O’Donoghue (@BBCBlindGazza) February 12, 2019
Jacob Rascon, a reporter with Houston NBC affiliate KPRC2, offered another angle of the attacker as he completed the act and was wrangled away by a Trump-friendly reporter in his own MAGA hat before security took custody of him. Rascon tweeted first that the man “jumped into the media pen and shoved several cameras, including ours” before shouting the obscenity, then posted his clip of the event:
Here’s another angle, after the @USAFrontline reporter had already grabbed the guy.
The crowd chanted “Trump! Trump!” Then the president looked at the media pen and asked, “You all right? Everything OK?” pic.twitter.com/Xsn30MrNPD
— Jacob Rascon (@KPRC2Jacob) February 12, 2019
By all accounts, the President had just been offering his usual red meat fare of fake news and media bias accusations just before the attack.
Let’s hope the man was actually arrested, rather than simply led away from the event. This is exactly the kind of person that Trump’s violent rhetoric against the media riles up into a frenzy and the next thing you know they’re at a news studio with an AR-15 and a grudge. Hopefully, the man is identified and referred for psychiatric evaluation — just like all Trump supporters should be.
Featured image via screen capture
