Cameraman attacked at rally
EL PASO: A BBC cameraman, assaulted during a speech by US President Donald Trump, was the victim of an ‘‘incredibly violent attack’’, it has been claimed.
Washington correspondent Gary O’Donoghue, who is blind, said his colleague Ron Skeans had been filming a rally in El Paso, Texas, when the incident happened.
Describing what unfolded, he said a supporter of Trump got on to the reporters’ platform and pushed the camera into his colleague, before continuing to push Mr Skeans.
‘‘It was an incredibly violent attack. Fortunately our cameraman is fine; he is made of stern stuff,’’ O’Donoghue told the Today programme.
Footage captured from Skeans’ camera was posted to Twitter by O’Donoghue and shows the shot focused on Trump before jolting away.
As the camera appears to bounce around for about 10 seconds, the screen then focuses on a man in a red cap who is being restrained by another man in a black Tshirt.
‘‘This is a constant feature of these rallies — a goading of the crowds against the media,’’ O’Donoghue added.
‘‘I have been spat at before. They hurl abuse at American colleagues in particular.’’
He said Trump’s 2020 election campaign would be as ‘‘hostile and illtempered and divisive as the one we saw last time’’. — BPA