Update, 6:30 p.m.: Inside Edition posted a brief, but disturbing interview with John McGraw, the Trump supporter who sucker-punched a protester at a North Carolina rally Thursday. The answers in the video are clearly edited, but here’s a rough transcript of the 78-year-old’s answers about the rally. (You can watch the video here.)
Cameraman: Did you like the event?
McGraw: You bet I liked it.
C: What did you like about it?
M: Knocking the hell out of that big mouth…We don’t know who he is, but we know he’s not acting like an American.
C: So he deserved it?
M: Every bit of it.
C: What was that?
M: Yes, he deserved it. The next time we see him, we might have to kill him. We don’t know who he is. He might be with a terrorist organization.
Original Post: Thursday morning, video circulated of a white man sucker-punching a black protester at a Donald Trump rally; now, a report says, North Carolina authorities have charged a 78-year-old man who was at the rally with assault. The description of the charges given by local NBC affiliate WRAL seems to indicate that the man being charged is the man in the video:
John McGraw, 78, of Linden, has been charged with assault and battery and disorderly conduct after authorities say he assaulted a protester who was removed from Wednesday night’s Donald Trump rally at Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville.
And here’s the footage:
The man who was punched, 26-year-old Rakeem Jones, spoke to the Washington Post about the incident and does not appear to have been seriously injured.
