There was a scare at another rally for GOP nominee Donald Trump in Pennsylvania late last week, when a man stormed into the press area.
At the rally — held in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on Friday — a man burst into the press area not long after Trump began to criticize media outlets for their unfavorable coverage of him. He then dismissed CNN, saying the liberal network was just fawning for its interview with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz.
The Associated Press reported this week that it wasn’t exactly certain what the man was motivated by, or even whether he was a critic or supporter of Trump.
On Saturday, police said that the man — whose name has not yet been released — will face misdemeanor charges in relation to the incident.
A CBS News reporter posted a video clip of the incident to social media over the weekend. It showed the man making it over a barrier that was set up around the media area at the rally. He then started to climb up the back of a riser where TV cameras and reporters were stationed.
People in the area started to try pulling him off that riser, and sheriff’s deputies and police officers quickly joined them.
The crowd began to cheer as police officers led the man away from the stage. Trump saw that this was happening and actually made a joke of it, saying:
“Is there anywhere that’s more fun to be than a Trump rally?”
Richard Pritchard, the police chief of Johnstown, told the AP over the weekend that the man was arrested and then released. The plan is to formally charge him early this week, at which time his identity will be disclosed.
Pritchard said that the charges that are planned to be handed down in municipal court are misdemeanors for resisting arrest, disrupting a public assembly and disorderly conduct.
The police chief said he wouldn’t speculate on what could’ve possibly motivated the man to do what he did at the rally on Friday.
It wasn’t clear in the various videos of the incident that have been released what the man was yelling as he was climbing the barriers.
Trump often criticizes the media during his rallies, at which point many of his supporters will typically cheer and yell as well.
Following the incident, the Trump campaign attempted to distance the GOP nominee from the man and the actions he took, suggesting that he was a critic of Trump’s. Danielle Alvarez, a senior campaign adviser, said:
“Witnesses, including some in the press corps, described a crazed individual shouting expletives at President Trump. His aggression was focused on the president and towards the stage as he entered the press area.”
This latest incident comes only about a month after a man attempted to assassinate Trump at another rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Security has been heightened at Trump rallies since then.
