17-year-old with Trump flag punches 70-year-old woman at Harris rally, Florida cops say

An altercation at a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris ended with a teen punching a 70-year-old woman and getting arrested, Florida authorities said.

The 17-year-old is now charged with battery of a person over 65, according to the Stuart Police Department. The teen told police he swung at a man and missed, hitting the woman by accident, according to an arrest report.

Rally organizer Lisa Corno told McClatchy News that about 300 people convened on Roosevelt Bridge on Nov. 2 in support of Harris and Florida’s Amendment 4 regarding abortion rights. Then Corno said a group of teens and young men supporting former President Donald Trump showed up and began to engage with attendees.

Corno said she had hired police to watch over the recurring Saturday rally after receiving threats. She said before the teens arrived, the event was peaceful.

“I don’t mind dealing with yelling, people giving the finger,” Corno said, adding that the rally draws hecklers every week. “We didn’t expect it to escalate.”

Corno said she saw the 17-year-old push against a 6-foot tall wooden sign that said “vote,” propped up by another man, which caused the teen to fall into the street. She said the teen got up and ran through the crowd, then the 70-year-old woman ended up on the ground from a punch to the stomach.

“Everybody was yelling, and the police went flying after this guy,” Corno said.

The teen told police that he was holding a flag that had liberty, guns, beer and Trump on it, then the man holding the large “vote” sign hit him on the head with the sign, according to an arrest report.

Police said he told them he swung at the man but hit the woman.

Corno didn’t see the punch but she said she helped the woman, who fell onto other rally attendees and landed on her hip.

The woman declined medical attention at the scene, police said.

The teen was quickly arrested.

“It was shocking,” attendee Hank Bonner, chair of the Martin County Democratic Executive Committee, told McClatchy News. “It’s disturbing that people would get so angry and assault people like that.”

He said the rally continued until its planned end time.

Corno said she was upset that the story coming out of the rally was about the violent incident, rather than the support the rally had garnered for her candidate.

MaryLynn Magar, chair of the Martin County Republican Executive Committee, wasn’t familiar with the specifics of the incident but said, “We don’t believe in violence of any kind.”

Stuart is in Martin County, about a 40-mile drive north from West Palm Beach.

This story was originally published November 4, 2024 at 4:39 PM with the headline "17-year-old with Trump flag punches 70-year-old woman at Harris rally, Florida cops say."