A supporter of Donald Trump stormed the press platform and attacked a BBC cameraman at the president’s rally in El Paso, Texas, on Monday.
Gary O’Donoghue, the Washington correspondent for the British public service broadcaster, described the attack on his cameraman Ron Skeans as “incredibly violent.” O’Donoghue shared footage of the “shameful moment” on Twitter:
The BBC reports the unidentified Trump supporter twice almost knocked Skeans and his camera over as he “shoved and swore” at other members of the press and yelled “fuck the media” before security escorted him away.
“Fortunately our cameraman is fine, he is made of stern stuff,” O’Donoghue told the “Today” program on BBC Radio 4. He called it “an incredibly violent attack” and said the “goading of the crowds against the media” is “a constant feature” of Trump’s rallies.
O’Donoghue also live-tweeted the attack as it unfolded:
“The president could see the incident and checked with us that all was okay,” the BBC said in a statement. “It is clearly unacceptable for any of our staff to be attacked for doing their job.”
The BBC’s Washington news editor, Eleanor Montague, said Trump had whipped the crowd “into a frenzy against the media” prior to the attack.
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