A man who attended a Trump rally in North Carolina has been arrested and charged with assault after he was seen in multiple videos punching and threatening a protester.
John McGraw appeared to punch a protester in the face at the rally and to say, “The next time we see him, we might have to kill him.” The protester was being escorted out of the rally along with a group of protesters at the time.
During Thursday night’s GOP debate, Trump was asked about the sucker punch and said that he did “not condone that at all.” Asked if comments he had made, including expressing a wish to punch protesters “in the face,” might have contributed to the fervor that allowed for such an incident to occur, Trump said, “I hope not. I truly hope not.”
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Meanwhile, McGraw appears to be unapologetic about the punch, telling “Inside Edition,” “Yes, he deserved it. The next time we see him, we might have to kill him. We don’t know who he is. He might be with a terrorist organization.” McGraw added that the protester, identified as Rakeem Jones, was not acting “like an American” and might have been part of ISIS.
Additionally, the department is conducting an investigation into whether or not police officers escorting the protesters out of the rally acted improperly by not immediately arresting McGraw for the assault.