Trump supporter assaults reporter after Trump incites violence in El Paso

As Trump delivered another of his anti-press tirades at a rally in El Paso on Monday night, one of his supporters physically attacked a reporter.

During the event, Trump complained that the press is “fake news” for reporting stories unfavorable to his unpopular administration, adding, “No matter what we do, they figure out a way to make it” negative.

A supporter took Trump’s rant to heart and leapt after a reporter.

Just attended my first ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ rally where my colleague BBC cameraman Rob Skeans was attacked by a Trump supporter. The crowd had been whipped up into a frenzy against the media by Trump and other speakers all night #TrumpElPaso pic.twitter.com/Oiw8osPms3

— Eleanor Montague (@EleanorMontague) February 12, 2019

“Fuck the media,” the man wearing a read “Make America Great Again” hat yelled as he went after BBC reporter Ron Skeans.

“The crowd had been whipped up into a frenzy against the media by Trump and other speakers all night,” said BBC reporter Eleanor Montague, who was next to Skeans.

Skeans described the attack as a “very hard shove” from his blind side. Skeans said the man almost knocked him and his camera over two times before being wrestled away by another man on the scene.

Surveying the scene from the stage, Trump asked if everyone was OK, gave a thumbs up to Skeans, and continued giving his speech. He did not bother to remark on, much less condemn, the attack itself.

Attacking the press has been Trump’s stock in trade for years. He routinely describes reporters who cover him as the “enemy of the people.”

In October 2018, a would-be serial bomber was arrested after mailing explosive devices around the country to figures like President Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and philanthropist George Soros.

The man also sent a device to CNN’s headquarters.

When captured, the man was discovered to be an ardent Trump supporter who had even been photographed at a Trump rally wearing one of the ubiquitous red MAGA caps.

During the presidential campaign Trump repeatedly encouraged and incited violence against protesters. “Knock the crap out of them,” he told supporters at one point — even promising to pay any resulting legal fees.

Trump is a demagogue who incites violence and harm against those who tell the truth about him.

And some of his followers are willing to assault innocent people based on the lies Trump tells them.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.