It should surprise no one that things got ugly at Donald Trump’s rally in Tucson, Arizona on Saturday. What comes as a surprise, though, is footage that appears to show Trump’s own campaign manager joining in on the ugliness.
Jacqueline Alemany of CBS News was on hand at the rally, and managed to catch this video of Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski confronting a protester at the Tucson Convention Center.
Lewandowski, clad in an open-collar shirt and blazer, confronted a non-violent protester with the assistance of a member of Trump’s private security detail. As the protester was about to walk away, Lewandowski appeared to grab him by the collar and pull him backward, causing him to stumble. The protester and one of his friends had been ejected from the rally earlier, and it’s not clear how they got back inside. Nonetheless, Lewandowski’s actions were way out of line.
Oliver Darcy, senior managing editor at Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze, also watched the rally, and confirmed that it was indeed Lewandowski.
Here's a still where you can clearly see @CLewandowski_ grab protester by collar, causing him to stumble backward pic.twitter.com/hPE6NUnAq3
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) March 19, 2016
Lewandowski was already under fire for behaving in a similar manner toward Breitbart News Network reporter Michelle Fields at a press conference earlier this month. Even though multiple witnesses saw him grab Fields from behind, Breitbart essentially hung Fields out to dry, forcing her to resign.
You would think that two incidents of violent behavior from your campaign manager would have alerted someone in the Trump campaign that Lewandowski may have a problem. Well, you thought wrong. That night, the Trump campaign issued this statement:
https://twitter.com/JaxAlemany/status/711352716425990147
Never mind that the video clearly shows Lewandowski was actually the one doing the pulling.
This wasn’t the only instance of thuggish behavior at this rally. As another protester, Bryan Sanders, was being escorted out, a Trump supporter launched a completely unprovoked attack on him. A person sitting nearby got a clip of the attack in real time.
Went to the Trump rally just to see how crazy it would be……..this is insane pic.twitter.com/QFwSwmNoI0
— Alex Satterly (@alex_satterly) March 19, 2016
The attacker, later identified as Tony Pettway, was quickly arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault with injury.
Behavior like this is why I, unlike a number of liberals, find it hard to rejoice at the prospect of a Trump nomination. True, in all likelihood it will hand the presidency to the Democrats on a platter, especially if a number of Republicans stay home or get behind a splinter candidate. But I never believed in my wildest dreams that I’d live to see the day where a major-party campaign would not make even a cursory effort to ensure a safe environment for all who attend. This sort of behavior has no place in any self-respecting democracy.
Featured image courtesy Oliver Darcy’s Twitter feed.
