A black Lives Matter heckler was tackled and stomped by Donald Trump supporters during a campaign rally in Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday.
A mob of about a dozen Trump supporters set upon the man when he interrupted Trump’s speech by shouting “black lives matter!”
The man was rescued by police officers and Secret Service who hustled him out of the arena.
“I have lot of fans and they were not happy about it,” said Trump in an interview with “Fox & Friends” on Sunday morning. “[T]his was a very obnoxious guy, who was a troublemaker who was looking to make trouble,” he said.
When the interviewer suggested the mob “roughed up” the heckler, Trump replied, “Rough up? Maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.”
Video shows the man tussling on the floor with Trump’s supporters and plainclothes officers as Trump yelled “Get him the hell out of here!”
CNN reported the man was “punched and kicked” by at least 2 of Trump’s supporters.
“At least a half-dozen attendees shoved and tackled the protester, a black man, to the ground as he refused to leave the event. At least one man punched the protester and a woman kicked him while he was on the ground,” CNN reported.
As the man was removed, Trump supporters yelled “All lives matter!”, “You pissed off the wrong one!” and “Git yer ass outta here!”
A Trump spokeswoman later told CNN that “the campaign does not condone this behavior.”
Watch the disturbing video below.
