A photographer was choked and slammed to the ground by a Secret Service agent during a Donald Trump rally in Virginia on Monday, witnesses said.
The GOP candidate was being heckled by dozens of black students in Radford, Va., when security began to escort them out — and Time magazine photographer Chris Morris followed along to shoot it.
Video taken and posted on social media by Radford University student Celeste Chorniak, Washington Examiner reporter Gabby Morrongiello and Independent Journal reporter Joe Perticone all captured unique angles of the ugly confrontation.
- As the student were led out, Morris was blocked from getting closer to them by the agent and he appeared to whisper “f–k you” to the burly lawman, according to Perticone’s footage.
- Moments later, the agent violently slammed Morris down, in footage captured from by Chorniak from stands at Radford’s Dedmon Center.
- WIth Morris on the ground, Morrongiello’s video showed the photographer kicking at a musclebound agent who was trying to get on top of him.
- After the photographer got up, he briefly put his hand on the Secret Service agent’s throat, mimicking what had happened to him moments earlier, Perticone’s footage showed.
“I’ve worked for nine years at the White House and have never had an altercation with the Secret Service,” Morris said in a statement released by Time magazine.
“What happened today was very unfortunate and unexpected. The rules at Trump events are significantly stricter than other campaigns and make it very difficult to work as a photographer, as many others have pointed out before me. I regret my role in the confrontation, but the agent’s response was disproportionate and unnecessarily violent. I hope this incident helps call attention to the challenges of press access.”
The Secret Service said it’s working with local law enforcement to piece together what happened.