Man Filmed Punching Trump Rally Protester

Footage appears to show the 78-year-old land a blow on a black demonstrator at an arena, in what police call a "cowardly" attack.

  UK, Thursday 10 March 2016

Video: Protester Attacked At Trump Rally

A man has been arrested after video emerged of a demonstrator being punched at a Donald Trump rally in North Carolina.

John Franklin McGraw is charged with assault and disorderly conduct, Cumberland County Sheriff's office said.
The 78-year-old, of Linden, North Carolina, is expected in court in April.
Rakeem Jones, who is black, said he was being escorted out of the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville by several deputies on Wednesday night when he was attacked.

John Franklin McGraw is due in court in April

He told the Associated Press he recalled thinking: "Wow. The police watched me get hit."
Cumberland County Sheriff Earl "Moose" Butler said in a statement: "No one should be subjected to such a cowardly, unprovoked act as that committed by McGraw."
Footage shows Mr Jones being restrained by officers as an onlooker says: "Chill, chill! You don’t gotta grab him like that!"

Mr Trump was interrupted by protesters 17 times as he gave the speech

Mr Jones told the Washington Post he had gone to the rally with fellow demonstrators, including a white woman, a Muslim, and a gay man.
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Mr Trump, who is the Republican front runner for November's White House election, was interrupted by protesters 17 times as he gave a speech at the venue.

Another protester is approached by security at the arena

"Go home to mommy and have her tuck you into bed," the candidate told one protester as he was led out of the arena.
It was not the first fracas at a Trump rally.
On Tuesday, after one of his rallies in Florida, a reporter for conservative news website Brietbart said she was set upon by the candidate's own campaign manager.

Mr Trump is the front runner for the Republican presidential nomination

Michelle Fields said she was trying to ask the Republican a question when she was grabbed and thrown to the ground by Corey Lewandowski.
The Trump campaign has denied the accusations as "entirely false", despite other witness accounts.
One of Ms Fields' own colleagues, Patrick Howley, has been suspended by Brietbart after he posted tweets casting doubt on her claims.
Some previous incidents involving protesters at Trump rallies have had racial overtones.
An African-American woman was shoved this month by white men at an event for the candidate in Kentucky.
And racial slurs were shouted at a Black Lives Matter demonstrator in Alabama last November.