During a North Carolina Donald Trump rally Wednesday, a protester was punched in the face as he was being escorted out of the arena by sheriff deputies.
Video shows him being sucker-punched by a man wearing a cowboy hat. John McGraw, the 78-year-old man accused of assault, was charged with battery Thursday.
In an interview with Inside Edition, McGraw said he threw the punch because, “Number one, we don’t know if he’s ISIS. We don’t know who he is, but we know he’s not acting like an American, cussing me… If he wants it laid out, I laid it out.”
McGraw was unrepentant saying, “yes, he deserved it. The next time we see him, we might have to kill him. We don’t know who he is. He might be with a terrorist organization.”
The protester, Rakeem Jones, told The Washington Post he had gone to the rally as a “social experiment.”
WATCH:
A 78-year-old man is charged with battery after punching protester at Trump rally yesterday.https://t.co/XKXkGBhabehttps://t.co/LSII2teA1f
— Mashable News (@MashableNews) March 10, 2016
After being punched Jones was brought to the floor and handcuffed by police. He told the Post, “After I get it, before I could even gain my thoughts, I’m on the ground getting escorted out. Now I’m waking up this morning looking at the news and seeing me getting hit again.”
WATCH:
Help me identify the racist Trump supporter who repeatedly punched this protestor in the face last night.
CRIMINAL!https://t.co/lNrUME2jCo
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) March 10, 2016
This isn’t the first example of violence at a Trump rally, police are investigating two claims of assault during a Kentucky rally.
Trump famously said in February regarding a protester, “I’d like to punch him in the face.”