Trump’s campaign manager charged with battery

Trump’s campaign manager charged with battery

Wednesday, March 30, 2016 8:07 am


Corey Lewandowski

Corey Lewandowski

Corey Lewandowski, campaign manager of  U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, has been  charged with battery in a Florida  court.

He was charged  after allegations that he forcefully grabbed a reporter at a campaign event. His trial has been set for May 4.

Police in Jupiter, Florida, charged Lewandowski, 42, with intentionally grabbing and bruising the arm of Michelle Fields, a reporter at the time for the conservative news outlet Breitbart, when she tried to question Trump at a campaign event on March 8.

“Mr. Lewandowski is absolutely innocent of this charge,” Trump’s campaign said in a statement. “He will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court. He is completely confident that he will be exonerated.”

Lewandowski and Michelle Fields

Lewandowski and Michelle Fields

Police released a video showing the incident. It shows Fields walking alongside Trump, and Lewandowski grabbing her arm and pulling her backward as she tried to question the Republican candidate. Previous videos of the incident had been obscured by people in the crowd.

Campaign rallies for Trump, the billionaire businessmen who leads the race for the Republican nomination in the Nov. 8 presidential election, have been marked by rowdiness and occasional physical contact between protesters and supporters or security personnel.

Lewandowski was charged with simple battery, defined under Florida law as intentionally touching or striking a person against their will. For a first offence, it is a misdemeanor in the first degree, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison or a fine of $1,000.

Lewandowski had previously claimed on Twitter that he never touched Fields, calling her “delusional” in a post on March 11 and denying that he had ever met her. Trump said at the time that he was told nothing had happened at the event, and said the incident was “in my opinion, made up.”

 


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