Arizona Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters reportedly lunged toward a Democratic activist wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt and “Jail Trump” hat at a GOP mixer, according to a video circulating online.
The incident took place during a meet-and-greet with GOP candidates at the Continental Shopping Plaza in Arizona on Saturday.
Peter Jackson, 73, attended the event wearing a T-shirt which read “Black Lives Matter More Than White Feelings; Check Your Privilege” and a pin button that said “fully vaxxed”.
Mr Jackson, recording the event on his GoPro, was soon accosted by the attendants with some calling him a “murdering dam*** bas****” and “a dam*** hypocrite”.
It quickly escalated with a woman hitting him in the face, showed the video. At this point, Mr Masters, 35, was seen lunging toward the Democrat and grabbing him before he fell to his knees.
The activist was then thrown out of the room and on to the ground outside. A woman could be heard yelling “lock the door!”
While Mr Masters confirmed he “intervened”, he said he did so because the activist allegedly assaulted a woman.
“A Left-wing activist came to a Republican event, started harassing people, and then hit a woman,” he was quoted as saying by Green Valley News.
“I intervened and put an end to that. He was subsequently detained by the police and cited for assault. Let me be clear: if you come to an event I’m at and attack a woman, it’s going to be a bad day for you.”
The clip – along with a nine-minute version of the incident Mr Jackson recorded on his GoPro – did not appear to show him assaulting anyone.
Amalia Halikias, Mr Masters’s campaign manager, told Newsweek the Republican’s claim was supported by footage of “plenty of people remarking, in the heat of the moment, that the agitator hit the woman”.
“That is what Blake saw,” she added. “The man struck the woman with his hand, hitting her in the face. At that point, Blake stepped in and restrained him so he could not hit her again.”
Speaking to the outlet, Mr Jackson said he went to the event because he “was just interested”.
“And in a way, I wanted to disrupt it a little bit with what I thought is the truth — that Trump should be jailed, Black lives do matter,” he told Green Valley News.
Mr Jackson has two citations of trespassing and simple assault and has been directed to appear before court on 23 June.
