JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Police said Saturday that a man will face misdemeanor charges after he broke into the press area of former President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and was surrounded and eventually subdued with a Taser by police while the president was speaking at the campaign event.
Friday's incident came shortly after President Trump criticized major media coverage he found unfavorable, and dismissed CNN's Thursday interview with Democratic rival Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz as flattering.
It was not immediately clear what the man's motive was or whether he was a supporter or critic of Trump.
According to a video of the incident posted to social media by a CBS News reporter, the man climbed over a fence surrounding the media area and began climbing up the back of the stairs where television reporters and cameras were located. Bystanders tried to pull the man down the stairs and were soon joined by police officers and sheriff's deputies.
As a group of police officers took the man away, the crowd cheered, and Trump said, “What better place to be than a Trump rally?”
Johnstown Police Chief Richard M. Pritchard confirmed to The Associated Press on Saturday that the man had been arrested, released and is expected to be formally charged next week. Pritchard said the man, whose identity will be released when he is arraigned, faces misdemeanor charges in Municipal Court of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and disrupting assembly.
Pritchard, who was not directly involved in the arrest, declined to speculate on the man's motive.
Harsh criticism of the media has been a staple of Trump's rally speeches, with his supporters often responding by booing reporters, some even giving the middle finger to show their disgust for journalists.
Just before the man entered the media-only area, President Trump repeated his familiar claim that the media is collectively “the enemy of the people.” Video of the incident does not make it clear what the man shouted as he climbed over the barrier or was subdued and arrested.
The Trump campaign has sought to distance the man and his actions from the former president and suggested he is an opponent of Trump.
“Witnesses, including members of the press, described a deranged individual yelling abuse at President Trump,” said Daniel Alvarez, a senior adviser to the campaign. “His attacks were focused on the president and the stage as he entered the press area.”
Alvarez did not disclose the names of the witnesses he cited or what the man may have shouted, but added that the campaign was grateful for the swift response of local law enforcement and the U.S. Secret Service.
Shortly after the incident, police handcuffed another man in the crowd and escorted him from the arena, though it was not immediately clear whether that detention was related to the initial altercation.
The incident comes amid heightened security at Trump rallies after a gunman shot Trump, grazed his ear, at an outdoor rally near Butler, Pennsylvania in July. Security at political events has been significantly beefed up since that shooting.
A Secret Service spokesman referred questions to local authorities.
