© AP Photo/Gerald Herbert Donald Trump during a primary night event in Palm Beach, Fla., on Tuesday. At left is his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
TUCSON, Ariz. — Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, is under heavy scrutiny after video footage surfaced Saturday showing him and another unidentified man forcefully engaging with a demonstrator at a rally here.
The video shows Lewandowski and the man reaching for a young protester in the stands amid a large group of anti-Trump demonstrators congregated in a section of the Tucson Convention Center. The protester was pulled backward, the footage shows, and aggressively began to push the man to Lewandowski's left.
Speculation about whether Lewandowski or the other man were responsible for the forceful contact has circled on social media with no clear consensus.
But the incident has nonetheless raised questions about the necessity and propriety of Lewandowski’s presence in the crowd, particularly since a Breitbart reporter accused him of manhandling her at a Trump campaign event earlier this month. Lewandowski has been regularly spotted helping to escort unruly protesters at campaign rallies around the country.
“Additional security measures will be put in place moving forward," Lewandowski said in a statement to The Washington Post when asked if he will continue to assist security detail in handling protesters.
The campaign said Saturday, regarding the incident, that Lewandowski was not responsible for yanking the young man. The statement in full:
Corey Lewandowski was speaking with a protestor at today’s rally in Tucson, Arizona, when the individual he was speaking with was pulled from behind by the man to Lewandowski’s left. The video clearly shows the protestor reacting to the man who pulled him, not to Mr. Lewandowski. The man to Corey's left who pulls the protestor back and many other people in the scene are reacting to the protestor grabbing the woman in the green shirt. Mr. Trump does not condone violence at his rallies, which are private events paid for by the campaign.
The Trump campaign has been under intense scrutiny in recent weeks over escalating clashes between protesters and supporters, including several instances of physical altercations. In one instance Saturday, a man physically assaulted a protester who was being escorted out with a friend wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood. The assailant punched the protester and proceeded to kick him repeatedly.
Source by:http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-campaign-manager-denies-manhandling-protester-after-video-raises-questions/ar-BBqGrNf
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