Election Chaos: flashback to when a rebellious protests upended a Trump campaign event

The 2024 Labor Day weekend saw Donald Trump make several headlines while he was out on the campaign trail. However, one of the big stories of the weekend wasn't caused by Trump but rather an unruly protestor.

Trump's August 30th rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania saw him deride the American media just minutes before an angry protestor attempted to storm the media section at the campaign event. 

CBS News reporter Taurean Small was at the campaign rally and tweeted the details of what happened during the event. “Just now: a protester was ejected after hopping the press fence, jumped up onto the riser at Trump’s PA rally,” Small’s explained. 

Photo Credit: X @taureansmall

“​​Video of the incident. Security in the press pen grabbed him first before he was taken down by law enforcement,” Smalls added. Vanity Fair reported that less than 10 minutes before this incident, Trump went off on the New York Times. 

Photo Credit: X @taureansmall

Trump reportedly ranted about the New York Times and claimed that the news outlet was losing “reader after reader” according to Vanity Fair. This was a situation that the former president said was something he was happy about. 

“I have to be happy about that,” Trump explained before going on to say that they were truly “the enemy of the people.” He added: “They are the enemy of the people. They tell false stories about me—that’s all they do is they write false stories.”

Vanity Fair also noted that earlier in his speech, Trump went after CNN and he criticized the news organization for its interview with the Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. 

“It was a very weak interview from the standpoint of CNN. I think CNN should be ashamed of themselves,” Trump explained. 

The Los Angeles Times reported that it was not immediately clear what motivated the man who tried to storm the press section of Trump’s Pennsylvania campaign rally but it did note the incident came just moments after Trump’s comments about CNN. 

Photo Credit: X @taureansmall

The man made it over a barrier that was ringing the press section and began climbing a riser. Onlookers attempted to pull the man down and police eventually joined in the struggle before the protestor was tased and subdued according to The Los Angeles Times. 

Photo Credit: X @taureansmall

“Is there anywhere that’s more fun to be than a Trump rally?” the former president said following the incident to cheers of the crowd. 

Senior Trump Campaign Advisor Danielle Alvarez talked about what happened and was quoted by several media outlets as saying, “Witnesses, including some in the press corps, described a crazed individual shouting expletives at President Trump.”

Photo Credit: X @taureansmall

“His aggression was focused on the president and towards the stage as he entered the press area,” Alvarez added according to PBS News, which added that Alvarez did not identify the witnesses she was talking about or say more about the man who was shouting. 

The Police Chief of Johnstown, Richard M. Pritchard later confirmed that the man had been arrested and would be released. The man’s identity was withheld when he was charged according to the Los Angeles Times. 

Photo Credit: X @taureansmall

The Los Angeles Times also reported that the unknown man is facing “misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and disrupting a public assembly.” But the incident hits at the heart of a bigger problem. 

Anti-media sentiment had become a reoccurring aspect of the former president’s rallies and it was possible that his comments could have incited the man to attack the media. 

However, it was possible Danielle Alvarez’s account may have been true, which would change the incident. Unfortunately, several months on from the rally, we still don't have any more clarity about what sparked the protester's angry outburst. 

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