A 15-year-old girl was pepper-sprayed in the face Tuesday during a tense shouting match that erupted after she was groped outside a Donald Trump campaign rally in Wisconsin, local police said.
The Janesville Police Department said in a statement that it is seeking two suspects in the incident, one for the pepper-spraying and one for sexual assault.
In video of the incident posted online, a young woman can be seen shouting and swearing at an older man, accusing him of touching her breasts.
“Can’t help you, I never touched you,” the man says, turning away from the teenager.
Others in the crowd are holding the teenager back as she pushes toward the man. She appears to strike or punch at something just off screen, and moments later an arm appears from out of frame and pepper-sprays her in the face.
Some bystanders can be heard cheering “yeah!” and “you bitch!” as the young woman works her way out of the crowd, clutching her face.
Alex, 15, of Janesville shoved and pepper sprayed by Trump supporter. #TrumpJanesville #DumpTrump pic.twitter.com/lT86udgBgn
— Lady Forward (@LadyForward) March 29, 2016
The man the 15-year-old had been shouting at earlier appears to be cheering as police move through the crowd and another smirking man, wearing a red Trump “Make America Great Again” hat, moves away from the fray.
Police released photos of that man on Wednesday, saying he is suspected of pepper spraying the teen.
In an ABC News video, a member of the crowd can be heard yelling “goddamn communist, nigger lover, get out of here!” as the visibly distressed teenager walks by, her face streaked with pepper spray.
Janesville police said the person who used the pepper spray was a civilian.
A 19-year-old woman also received second-hand spray in the incident. Both women were treated at local hospitals, the statement said.
Watch video of the incident below:
Another video, which purportedly shows the moments before the young woman was pepper-sprayed, shows her holding a sign that read “Damn Donald, back at it again with the white supremacy” while chanting “black lives matter.”
The teenager and another woman appear quickly overwhelmed by the crowd of Trump supporters chanting “all lives matter.”
Watch the ABC video of the crowd shouting:
EXCLUSIVE vid shows teen get pepper sprayed after shoving protester, called a bitch & “n****r lover” at Trump rally pic.twitter.com/kB4GqQbbaG
— Candace Smith (@CandaceSmith_) March 30, 2016
This story has been updated.
How to keep an idiot busy for hours you ask? How about a Trump Rally!
“Well, it’s not like he threw battery acid on her.”
More. Every time something like this happens at a Trump rally, he loses a few thousand more votes.
Lord, I really wish these bozos would realize that their “All Lives Matter” chant isn’t a snappy comeback to the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s the same damn thing. But since they always have to be the victims, they’ll believe anything they can to support that. So this isn’t about equality to them, it’s yet another way they’re being oppressed by minorities.
And really, who brings pepper spray to a political rally, and then is that quick to use it on a non-threatening girl? I once went to an Obama rally here in Austin. Don’t remember seeing any pepper spray.