Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign manager was arrested in Florida on Tuesday and charged with battery, police records show.
The report from the Jupiter Police Department said Corey Lewandowski, 42, was charged for intentionally grabbing and bruising the arm of Michelle Fields, a reporter at the time for the conservative news outlet Breitbart, against her will at a Trump campaign event on March 8.
« Mr. Lewandowski is absolutely innocent of this charge, » Trump’s campaign said in a statement. « He is completely confident that he will be exonerated. »
Simultaneously, the police department released a video showing the incident between Fields and Lewandowski. Unlike previous videos released by news networks which were at the news conference, the new video is not obscured by people.
Trump’s rallies across the United States have been marked by rowdiness and physical contact between protesters and either his supporters or security personnel.
For a first offense, simple battery is a misdemeanor in the first degree, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison or a fine of $1,000.