Donald Trump had a difficult day at his rally in Radford University in Virginia, with a number of incidents making for more unwanted headlines.
The Republican presidential hopeful has found himself in hot water recently over his initial reluctance to disavow the backing of former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke.
On Monday, footage of a TIME magazine photographer Christopher Morris being shoved to the ground by a Secret Service agent at the event in Virginia surfaced, which was widely shared on social media.
Secret Service agent choke slams reporter pic.twitter.com/jdsHOlylSB
— Joe Perticone (@JoePerticone) 29 February 2016
The photographer, who has covered the White House for the best part of the last decade, stated afterwards that he would not be pressing charges, and that the agent had taken the action after he stepped "18 inches" outside the press pen.
Time photog Chris Morris tells me how he was grabbed and taken down at Trump rally pic.twitter.com/XKDJarpXda
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) 29 February 2016
In a statement on their website, TIME stated they had "contacted the U.S. Secret Service to express concerns about the level and nature of the agent’s response", adding that Morris regrets his part in escalating the confrontation.
The statement also outlined that Morris had been briefly detained after the incident, while the photographer himself described the agent's response as "disproportionate and unnecessarily violent".
The rally was also interrupted by a number of protesters, who were chanting "no more hate" as they filed through the hall after being removed from the event.
Protesters join hands, shout "No more hate" and are removed from Trump rally in southwest Virginia pic.twitter.com/AqKrWpY12L
— Fenit Nirappil (@FenitN) 29 February 2016
Via BuzzFeed
