UPDATE 5:28 p.m.: Authorities will not pursue sexual assault charges against the man accused of groping the 15-year-old protester, according to a report from BuzzFeed News. David Moore, Janesville Police Chief, told reporters during a press conference that investigators arrived at their conclusion after watching multiple videos and interviewing witnesses. The teen, identified only as "Alex," may now face disorderly conduct charges for punching the man she accused of groping her.
See original story below.
Police have identified the men who allegedly pepper-sprayed and groped a 15-year-old protester at a Donald Trumprally in Wisconsin. Local authorities confirmed that the man accused of pepper spraying the teen had been located early Thursday morning, the Associated Press reports. According to Janesville police, the man who allegedly groped the teen has also spoken with investigators. Though charges have not currently been filed, authorities tell reporters the investigation is still in progress.
"I'm not someone who goes around punching old men," the protester, identified only as "Alex," toldBuzzFeed News on Thursday. "I just wanted this person to get off me." According to Alex, threats she's received on social media made her "afraid to go to school" after video of Tuesday's incident started making headlines. Alex says footage of the troubling encounter, including the clip above taken just before she was pepper-sprayed, didn't capture the unnamed man who allegedly touched her breast. Minutes later, the teen was hit with pepper spray by a different Trump supporter.
The disturbing footage comes in the middle of many months of violence-related incidents at Trump rallies across the nation, one of which allegedly included the leading Republican presidential candidate's own campaign manager. On Tuesday, Corey Lewandowski was hit with a simple battery charge stemming from his reportedly violent encounter with Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields:
Trump later confirmed that he has no intentions of dropping Lewandowski from his team, an assertion he followed just one day later with actually saying this out loud:
Almost immediately, Trump (sort of) reversed his stance in a statement asserting his supposed similarities with some guy named Ronald Reagan. "The woman is a victim is this case as is the life in her womb," Trump said, according toCNN. "My position has not changed. Like Ronald Reagan, I am pro-life with exceptions."
