Republican congressional candidate Greg Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault after "body slamming" The Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs. The incident occurred on Wednesday night in Bozeman, Montana, just hours before the special election to fill the state's single congressional seat.
Jacobs was asking Gianforte about the new findings released by the Congressional Budget Office's analysis of the American Health Care Act, which Gianforte seemed to be in no mood to discuss. After instructing a persistant Jacobs to speak to his spokesman, Shane Scanlon, Gianforte lost his temper.
"I'm sick and tired of you guys!" Gianforte was heard yelling in audio uploaded to Youtube (below). "The last time you came in here you did the same thing. Get the hell out of here! Get the hell out of here!"
A Fox News crew was among members of the media who witnessed the incident, detailing how violent Gianforte got with Jacobs.
"Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the reporter," Alicia Acuna wrote in a recap. "As Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs, he began yelling something to the effect of, 'I'm sick and tired of this!' Jacobs scrambled to his knees and said something about his glasses being broken."
Acuna recalled Jacobs asking for her and her crew members' names, since they bore witness to the assault, but they were too shocked to answer.
"Jacobs then said he wanted the police called and went to leave. Gianforte looked at the three of us and repeatedly apologized. At that point, I told him and Scanlon, who was now present, that we needed a moment. The men then left.
"To be clear, at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte, who left the area after giving statements to local sheriff's deputies."
Scanlon later released a statement defending Gianforte's actions:
"After asking Jacobs to lower the recorder, Jacobs declined. Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Greg's wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground. It's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ."
According to Buzzfeed's Alexis Levinson, who was also at the event, three Montana papers -- the Billings Gazette, the Missoulian and the Independent Record -- have pulled their endorsements for Gianforte after learning of the incident.
Gianforte is due to appear in court June 7.