The Secret Service is investigating a physical altercation between one of its agents and a Time magazine photographer during a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Virginia, the White House said Tuesday.
“The Secret Service is working with local law enforcement to try to get to the bottom of what exactly happened,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters during a briefing, Reuters reported. “The leadership of the Secret Service has indicated that they’ll take appropriate steps based on the conclusion of that investigation.”
Several videos circulating on social media Monday showed Time’s Christopher Morris cursing at a Secret Service agent, who apparently tried to prevent him from leaving the press pen as Black Lives Matter activists were being escorted out of the rally. The agent then grabs Mr. Morris by the throat and slams him to the ground.
Mr. Morris is then seen lying on the ground kicking the agent away and accusing the agent of grabbing his neck. Mr. Morris eventually gets up and places his hands on the agent’s throat before he is pulled away by security and escorted out of the building, NBC News reported.
“I just, I stepped 18 inches out of the pen then they grabbed me by the neck and started choking me and slammed me to the ground,” Mr. Morris told NBC after he was released from a short detention by the Secret Service. “I never punched him, I never touched him.”
He said he placed his hands on the agent’s neck simply to demonstrate what happened to him.
Time magazine said it contacted the Secret Service to “express concerns about the level and nature of the agent’s response.”
Mr. Morris said he was “shaken” but physically OK. He said he does not plan to press charges against the agent.
“The rules at Trump events are significantly stricter than other campaigns and make it very difficult to work as a photographer,” Mr. Morris said in a statement. “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.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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