Republican presidential candidate
Donald Trump was rushed offstage by the Secret Service during a rally in Nevada
Saturday night, but returned within minutes.
The agency said in a statement that
Trump was removed from the stage at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center after
someone shouted "Gun!", causing a commotion. The Secret Service said
that one person was apprehended and no weapon was found after a search of the
surrounding area.
KRXI reported that one man
holding a "Republicans Against Trump" sign was briefly detained and
was later released from custody.
The man identified himself
as Austyn Crites, 33, of Reno. In an interview with the Guardian, Crites
described himself as a Republican and a conservative who was opposed to a
possible Trump presidency.
A source told Fox News that someone
in the crowd saw another attendee reach around his back and toward his
waistband. The first person shouted "Gun!" several times, sparking
panic right in front of the stage where Trump was speaking.
Two Secret Service agents quickly
surrounded Trump before hustling him off the stage. Trump returned moments
later and told the crowd," "Nobody said it was going to be easy
for us. But we will never be stopped. Never, ever be stopped."
Witness David Newton told the Reno Gazette-Journal that
the man holding the sign was trying to get closer to the stage just before the
disturbance.
"He had something on his belly.
I don’t know what it was,” Newton told the paper. “Somebody yelled 'gun' and
everyone jumped on him. My friend put his knee on his head, but he kept getting
up.”
Crites confirmed witness accounts
that he was moving toward the crowd toward the stage, but denied that he was
aggressive or rude. He told the Guardian the sign was initially greeted with
boos, but then "people next to me [started] to get violent; they’re
grabbing at my arm, trying to rip the sign out of my hand."
Crites went on to claim that members
of the crowd kicked and punched him, while at least one person grabbed his
testicles. He said he was relieved when authorities put him in handcuffs and
escorted him from the arena.
"The people who attacked me –
I’m not blaming them," Crites said. I’m blaming Donald Trump’s hate
rhetoric." The man went on to call Trump a "facist" and a
"dictator."
After the incident, Trump's son,
Donald Jr. and top campaign aide Dan Scavino falsely claimed that there
had been an "assassination attempt" against the candidate, even
though no weapon was found.
Both men re-tweeted a message that
read, "Hillary ran away from rain today [at a rally in Florida]. Trump is
back on stage minutes after assassination attempt."
At Trump's next rally in Denver, a
pastor, introduced as Father Andre Y-Sebastian Mahanna, also falsely called the
Reno incident "an attempt of murder against Mr. Trump." Mahanna
blamed the incident on the media for inciting hate against the Republican
nominee.
The Secret Service statement noted
that magnetometers are used at presidential campaign sites.
"All general public attending
these events must go through a magnetometer screening prior to entering a
protected area," the agency said.
Source: Fox
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