This is how reporters are treated at Trump rallies pic.twitter.com/hMxuEoKVeG
— Gabby Morrongiello (@gabriellahope_) February 29, 2016
Attending a political rally for Donald Trump is all fun and games until the shouting starts. Not necessarily because of something rousing the Republican presidential candidate and front-runner told the crowd, per se, but because of the crowd’s response to something happening among its members. Maybe a protester’s chants were interrupted by a bit of Trump-supported roughing up, or maybe the supporters who did said roughing were invited onto the stage by the New York real estate mogul himself. Either way, Trump rallies often devolve into some kind of audience-caused chaos, as the events regularly attract protests, counter-protests, and security’s involvement.
Like what happened to Time magazine photographer Christopher Morris at an event at Radford University in Radford, Virginia on Monday. According to tweeted videos and comments from reporters who witnessed the event, Morris was allegedly choke-slammed onto the ground by a member of Trump’s Secret Service detail.
https://twitter.com/JoePerticone/status/704367346916462592
Hearing @time magazine photog Chris Morris was just arrested at Trump rally. Seen tussling with Secret Service officer.
— Annie Andersen (@Annie_Andersen) February 29, 2016
Initial reports suggested Morris had been arrested following the encounter, but the photographer later caught up with NBC News and said he’d only been detained for a short time. However, Morris wasn’t entirely sure why the whole thing had happened in the first place, as “he did nothing to deserve” it. He simply had one foot out of the press pen.
Photog Chris Morris tells @Jacobnbc he was detained, not arrested; says did nothing to deserve throwdown, had one foot in press pen, one out
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 29, 2016
According to a brief exchange with CNN’s Jim Acosta on the way out of the rally, Morris said that he was trying to photograph protesters who were disrupting the rally when the Secret Service agent confronted him and slammed him to the ground with a choke hold.
UPDATE: New videos of the actual choke hold have surfaced on Twitter and Instagram. The Instagram video was subsequently deleted, but Mashable managed to grab a portion of it.
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According to one that immediately preceded the choke hold, Morris and the agent were arguing with one another. The photographer said “f*ck you,” prompting the agent’s violent reaction.
https://twitter.com/JoePerticone/status/704379901420429313
(Via Joe Perticone on Twitter, Daily Beast, Jim Acosta on Twitter)