Protest-filled Donald Trump rally gets ugly when photographer gets thrown to the ground
A man whom the Donald Trump campaign and reporters on scene described as a Secret Service agent appeared to slam a Time magazine photographer to the ground after he stepped past a security barricade at a Monday rally.
In a now-deleted video posted to Instagram by an attendee, the photographer was seen talking to the agent before the agent appeared to force him to the ground.
The photographer can be seen tussling with the agent in this video posted to Twitter:
He appeared to curse at the apparent Secret Service agent before he was taken down:
He told another reporter at the rally about what happened:
The photographer said he "stepped 18 inches out of the [press] pen" when the agent grabbed him by the neck and started "choking" him before slamming him to the ground.
Here's a short shot of the moment from the deleted Instagram video:
The altercation came as protesters affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement were being escorted out of the Radford, Virginia, rally. Trump's rally was interrupted several times by protesters.
The Trump campaign identified the man as a Secret Service agent in a statement distributed to reporters.
"There was an incident involving a USSS agent at today's Radford University Trump rally," the campaign said in the statement. "We are not aware of all the details surrounding the incident and all future inquiries should be directed to local law enforcement."
The Secret Service told CBS News that it would speak to the agent involved before issuing a statement. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
A Time magazine representative also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.