Violence erupted at yet another Donald Trump rally Saturday when a protester was hit and kicked by a Trump supporter and Trump’s campaign manager was seen yanking the collar of a demonstrator on video.
The incidents add to the list of violent episodes that have followed Trump’s increasingly hostile and divisive campaign.
Video posted by NBC News’ Frank Thorp V and another witness shows security personnel escorting a protester out of the Tucson Convention Center, after which a black man is seen grabbing the person and unleashing a series of punches and kicks that send the protester to the ground.
VIOLENCE at another Donald Trump rally, this time in Tucson, AZ. Man hits and kicks protester: pic.twitter.com/7FWuSeE0Jt
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorpNBC) March 19, 2016
Went to the Trump rally just to see how crazy it would be........this is insane pic.twitter.com/QFwSwmNoI0
— Alex Satterly (@alex_satterly) March 19, 2016
.@JaxAlemany reporting that in Tuscon, a protestor being escorted out of Trump rally was punched in face by an African-American attendee.
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) March 19, 2016
Police then intervened, handcuffing the man who dealt the blows and escorting both him and the protester out of the building.
Bryan Sanders, the man who was punched, told the Arizona Daily Star he was protesting Trump's "fascism, his racism, his lies and his woman hating."
"I had a sign that said 'Trump is bad for America,' and a guy grabbed the sign as I was being escorted out of the building and sucker punched me."
"I was also here at the Bernie Sanders rally last night, and nobody got punched," Sanders said.
Police identified the man who assaulted the protester as Tony Pettway, 32. He is to be charged with assault with injury, a Class 1 misdemeanor, Tucson Police Sgt. Kimberly Bay told HuffPost.
One protesters got punched as he was being escorted out. Looked from my seat in the press area like he was taken away by security as well.
— Jose A. DelReal (@jdelreal) March 19, 2016
It is striking that one of the few Trump supporters arrested for attacking protesters in recent months was African-American. There have been far fewer arrests for assault at Trump rallies than reported incidents of violence, according to a HuffPost analysis.
Many protesters were in the stadium, including a group of people holding "Dump Trump" posters. Trump’s security staff removed many while he spoke.
The "Dump Trump" section is slowly being escorted out. I spotted some shoving. pic.twitter.com/1VnGoqnowM
— Jose A. DelReal (@jdelreal) March 19, 2016
At the start of his speech, Trump appeared to heed the advice of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who asked him to condemn violence at his rallies after a string of violent incidents raised GOP concerns about Trump’s viability in the general election.
"We love our protesters, don’t we?" Trump said after the first protester spoke out off camera.
But 10 minutes into Trump’s speech, two protesters, one wearing a Ku Klux Klan mask, were escorted out, and Trump changed his tone.
"They're troublemakers, they're no good, and we have to be careful," Trump said. "We've gotta take our country back, folks. We gotta take our country back, very simple."
"That is a disgusting guy, really disgusting," he continued. “Get him out of here, get him out,” he said, prompting loud cheers.
A video of Trump's rally shows the exchange.
Trump also brought out his familiar rhetoric of "making America great again," and his lament that the U.S. "doesn’t win anymore." He also restated his intention to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border at Mexico's expense. Later, he brought onstage a woman holding a "Latinos Support Trump" sign.
Trump brings up a woman holding a "Latino Support Trump" sign. "LATINOOOS!" Trump said when he saw the sign. pic.twitter.com/zMAVTZjAPH
— Jose A. DelReal (@jdelreal) March 19, 2016
In addition to the attack on the protester, a video taken during the rally by CBS News’ Jacqueline Alemany appears to show Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski grabbing a protester by the collar of his shirt.
Here is Donald Trump's campaign manager in the Tucson crowd grabbing the collar of a protester. pic.twitter.com/JZ9RntWlHY
— Jacqueline Alemany (@JaxAlemany) March 19, 2016
Here's a still where you can clearly see @CLewandowski_ grab protester by collar, causing him to stumble backward pic.twitter.com/hPE6NUnAq3
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) March 19, 2016
Trump's campaign later said the man was not pulled by Lewandowski, but by a man to his left.
Statement from Trump campaign RE video of campaign manager grabbing protestors collar. pic.twitter.com/jzqK5ZwQFk
— Jacqueline Alemany (@JaxAlemany) March 20, 2016
Earlier in March, former Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields accused Lewandowski of assaulting her after a press conference.
Violence has followed Trump’s campaign events around the nation, and the GOP presidential front-runner has refused to take responsibility for it or condemn it. Instead, he has defended his combative supporters, blamed demonstrators for bringing it on themselves, encouraged violent acts at his rallies and offered to pay the legal fees of supporters who fight for him.
The scene in Tucson closely resembled a similar altercation earlier in March, where a Trump supporter sucker-punched a protester in North Carolina.
Earlier on Saturday, three people were arrested after protesters blocked off a road near a Trump rally in Fountain Hills Park, Arizona. In Chicago, Trump’s rally was canceled after thousands of protesters overwhelmed campaign staff and security, resulting in clashes and arrests. One day later in Kansas City, Missouri, demonstrators were pepper-sprayed and some were arrested.
At least 55 people have been arrested or cited in connection with Trump events from Feb. 29 to March 19, according to a HuffPost survey of police departments. And there is a long way yet to go in the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump leads Ted Cruz (R-Texas) ahead of the Arizona primary on Tuesday.
Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist
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