Trump rushed off stage at campaign rally
VS - Donald Trump was rushed off a stage here Saturday by Secret Service agents during a campaign speech after an incident in the crowd near the front of the stage. A Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement there was a commotion in the crowd and an unidentified individual shouted gun, though no weapon was found after a thorough search.
A man, who later identified himself to reporters as Austyn Crites, was then immediately detained and led out by a throng of police officers, Secret Service agents and SWAT officers armed with assault rifles to a side room. A law enforcement official later told CNN no charges were filed against Crites.
After he was released from custody, Crites told reporters the incident started off when he raised a Republicans Against Trump sign. Crites said he was then assaulted by a group of people around him before anyone shouted anything about a gun.
The alleged assault against Crites is just the latest such incident to occur at a Trump rally, where other protesters have previously been roughed up. Trump was unharmed and returned to the stage minutes later to finish his speech. Trump was in the middle of his stump speech when the commotion occurred. He was looking into the crowd, his hand over his eyes to block the glare from the stage lights, when Secret Service agents grabbed him and escorted him off the stage. Trump ducked his head as he left the stage. The crowd surged backward, some supporters with frightened looks on their faces, as the Secret Service and police tactical units rushed in to detain a man.
Several attendees told CNN they initially heard a person yell there was someone with a gun.”We were all very interested in what Mr. Trump had to say and a guy in a red shirt just rushed right next to me, screaming, ‘There is a guy with a gun,’” Shimon Cohen told CNN. But asked if he saw a gun, he said, “No, I did not.”
Trump held a last rally Saturday night in Denver, where he did not address the incident. Less than an hour after the incident -- and before it was clear what happened -- Trump’s campaign sought to highlight the moment to suggest he was tougher than his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, who had to cut short a Florida rally due to heavy rain.
Dan Scavino Jr., Trump’s social media director, and Donald Trump Jr., the nominee’s oldest son, retweeted Jack Posobiec, a supporter who wrote: “Hillary (Clinton) ran away from rain today. Trump is back on stage minutes after assassination attempt.” But the Secret Service statement made clear no weapon had been found. Neither has deleted the retweet.
(CNN)