CINCINNATI — A Georgetown, Kentucky man was led away to chants of “Lock him up!” after assaulting a protester outside of a Trump rally Thursday night.
The brief confrontation — 29-year-old Dallas Frazier climbing out of a pickup and repeatedly punching 61-year-old protester Mike Alter in the head — was recorded and quickly posted to Facebook by fellow protester Scott Fantozzi. More than 1,600 people had shared the video by 10 p.m. ET.
According to phone conversations and text messages with Alter, the protest against President Donald Trump’s campaign visit to Cincinnati had been peaceful until Frazier arrived. Alter and a group of other protesters had been standing across the street from the rally, occasionally exchanging shouts and chants with supporters on their way in to U.S. Bank Arena.
Dallas Frazier, 29, is accused of punching an anti-Trump protester oustide of U.S. Bank Arena on Thursday, August 1, 2019, according to police. He faces an assault charge.
A red pickup drove by, and Frazier began shouting at the protesters from the passenger seat.
“These guys pulled up in the pickup truck, everyone was yelling back and forth at them,” Alter said.
This video contains profanity:
According to police documents, the “suspect exited the vehicle, stated ‘you want some,’ then struck the victim multiple times in the face.” Fantozzi, speaking through Facebook messages, said he had not been paying attention to the interaction until Frazier left the pickup.
Fantozzi’s video shows Frazier climbing out, taking off his hat and assuming a fighting stance. Alter took off his hat and gestured to him.
“I was more questioning him” than trying to provoke him, Alter claimed in a text message. “Like really you want to fight?”
Frazier did. He hit Alter three times and continued to swing as another protester pushed him away and police forced his arms behind his back.
“(I thought,) ‘What the hell?’” Alter said. “He started just whaling on my head. I didn’t go down, for what that’s worth.”
Alter added the event was the first protest he had ever attended, although he had been to political events before as a supporter of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
Fantozzi’s video also shows protesters shouting at Frazier as he is arrested, police ordering them to stay back and, finally, Frazier being led away to “Lock him up!” He faces an assault charge in Hamilton County court.
The driver of the pickup was also detained, according to police. Officers did not provide his name or clarify whether he had been charged.
According to Lt. Steve Saunders, Frazier was the only person arrested Thursday night in relation to the Trump rally. Saunders said he was not aware of any other fights or rally-related incidents requiring police intervention.
This story was originally published by Sarah Walsh on
WCPO
in Cincinnati.
