After punch at rally, man threatens worse ‘next time’

Donald Trump has said he’d like to “punch” protesters who flock to his rallies, and one of his supporters apparently took it upon himself to act.

Videos circulated on social media Thursday showed a white man punching a black man at a Trump rally in Fayetteville, N.C., on Wednesday.

According to a report filed by the Cumberland County, N.C., sheriff’s department, the suspect, John McGraw, 78, was charged with assault and disorderly conduct for punching Rakeem Jones as he exited the arena where the rally took place. McGraw is scheduled to appear in court next month.

Video also shows sheriff ’s deputies handcuffing Jones after he was punched. Jones was not charged with any crime and was only escorted out of the arena, said Sean Swain, a spokesman for the Cumberland County sheriff’s office.

Jones said he and others went to the event as observers. He says someone swore at one in their group, and by the time they tried to object, the police were escorting him out.

“It was like, wow, I got hit while the police are escorting me out. … The police watched me get hit,” he said. He said his right eye is swollen and bruised.

A sheriff’s department news release said the assault victim was being escorted out of Crown Coliseum after disrupting the rally and that deputies had their eyes on the stairs when the assault happened.

McGraw told “Inside Edition” on Thursday that Jones “deserved” to be punched. “Next time we see him, we might have to kill him,” he said.

Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, said she was “distraught and appalled” by the report.

The encounter comes as the Trump campaign deals with allegations of assault closer to home: Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was accused this week of grabbing a reporter from Breitbart, a conservative news outlet.

The reporter, Michelle Fields, was attempting to ask Trump a question as he exited a news conference in Jupiter, Fla., when, she said, someone forced her out the way, nearly causing her to fall. A Washington Post reporter identified Lewandowski as having yanked Fields out of the way.

A Trump spokeswoman denied the allegation.

Associated Press contributed.