New Hampshire State Police have launched an investigation after a Trump supporter was caught on camera making what sounded like terrorist threats against a journalist at a Friday rally. The Trump supporter, who was a white man, targeted reporter Alex DiPrato and a camera operator, who’d crossed state lines from nearby Massachusetts to cover a Trump stop in the state. That Trump supporter, whose identity does not seem to have emerged publicly as of Saturday afternoon, threateningly insisted that DiPrato and his colleagues could soon be “bombed.”
In video of the incident, after initially seeming to walk away following a first round of harassment that he launched, the man turned back and ranted:
‘How do you sleep at night when you lie? How do you sleep at night when you’re a fucking liar?.. You’ll pay. What comes around, goes around. You heard about the law of reciprocity? What comes around, goes around. You motherfuckers are gonna pay. Someone’s gonna bomb you, might even be tonight.’
Check out the video below:
Deranged man at Trump rally threatens reporter: “Someone’s going to bomb you, might even be tonight.” (Video @AlexDiPrato) pic.twitter.com/xEbw5tM8QS
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 29, 2020
The Trump supporter’s harassment of DiPrato and his colleague seemed to come entirely out of the blue. He began his rant by asking if the journalists had seen “what happened to Rand Paul last night.” The Kentucky Senator was confronted by protesters outside the White House, but by all appearances, not a single one of them laid a finger on him — Paul, though, dubiously suggested that his life was in danger. There’s no apparent evidence for that claim whatsoever.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, New Hampshire State Police issued the following statement:
‘The New Hampshire State Police is aware of a video circulating on social media of an incident involving a Boston-based media journalism crew. NHSP and Londonderry Police are looking into the matter. We all play an important role in maintaining safe communities. If you see something, say something.’
UPDATE: @NH_StatePolice says they are looking into this incident. pic.twitter.com/DCJJj1Ejha
— Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS) August 29, 2020
This incident did not occur in a vacuum. President Donald Trump has repeatedly derided the media as the “enemy of the people,” and simultaneously, he and his allies have elevated those who’ve been apparently willing to use violence to further their political ends. After the St. Louis couple Mark and Patricia McCloskey were caught on camera waving guns at protesters and subsequently hit with felony charges of unlawful use of a firearm, they were invited to speak at the recent Republican National Convention.
