Experts
dispute the Republican front runner's claim that a protester who tried to rush
on stage at his rally has ties to IS.
US
intelligence experts have rejected claims by Donald Trump that a protester who
tried to storm the stage at his rally may have links to Islamic State.
The
presidential hopefuls Secret Service detail swarmed around him as the protester
was detained and escorted from the rally at Dayton International Airport, Ohio,
on Saturday.
Mr Trump
appeared shaken and then told the audience: "I was ready for him, but it's
much better if the cops do it, don't we agree?"
Authorities
have identified the man as Thomas Dimassimo, from Fairborn, Ohio. He has been
charged with inducing panic and disorderly conduct.
Speaking at
a later rally in Kansas City, Mr Trump said Dimassimo had ties to IS, a claim
which has not been supported by law enforcement agencies.
"So,
the judge let him go. And then one of my people said, wow. They found his name,
and it was probably ISIS or ISIS related. Do you believe it? Certainly, he's
not in love with our country, that I can tell you, okay?" Mr Trump said.
He tweeted a
video which purportedly shows Dimassimo, reportedly a 22-year-old anti-racism activist,
at a protest which involved students standing on US flags.
Experts who
watched the video called Mr Trump's allegation "utterly farcical".
"Trump's
accusations about it being linked to ISIS serve only to underline the totality
of his ignorance on this issue," said Charles Lister, a fellow at the
Middle East Institute.
Minutes
before the Ohio incident, the Republican front runner spoke about tensions that
led to another one of his rallies being cancelled on Friday, saying it was a
"planned attack" by "professionals".
Violence
broke out between his supporters and protesters after the event was called off.
Five arrests were made and two police officers were injured.
It came
after a series of recent violent incidents at Trump rallies, in which
journalists and protesters have been punched, tackled and hustled out of
venues.
Mr Trump
said on Sunday he had "instructed my people" to look into the
possibility of helping pay the legal bills of a man charged with assault and
disorderly conduct at one of his rallies.
John
Franklin McGraw of Linden, North Carolina, was filmed punching a demonstrator
at the rally last week.
He was
filmed saying he liked "knocking the hell out of that big mouth."
"Next
time we see him we might have to kill him," McGraw said.
Without
mentioning Mr Trump's name directly, US President Barack Obama gave a mocking
rebuke of the Republican at a Democratic Party fundraiser on Saturday.
"We are
great right now," Mr Obama said, in a comment playing on Mr Trump's
campaign slogan of "Make America great again".
"What
the folks who are running for office should be focused on is how we can make it
even better - not insults and schoolyard taunts and manufacturing facts, not
divisiveness along the lines of race and faith. Certainly not violence against
other Americans."
0 comments:
Post a Comment