Police have charged a Florida teenager with a felony battery charge after he allegedly attacked a 70-year-old woman at a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Treasure Coast Newspapers reports the incident happened on Saturday at an event for Harris in Stuart, Florida.
The 70-year-old Harris supporter, Kathleen Tomasko, told police that a 17-year-old boy wearing a shirt with a picture of Donald Trump punched her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground in the process.
Police officers who event organizers hired to monitor rally activities arrested the teen. He was charged with battery on a person 65 years of age or older — a third-degree felony punishable by up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Witnesses also told authorities that the teen was involved in another altercation with another Harris supporter before walking away and violently striking Tomasko.
“Several people pointed out a male who was walking away from the area as someone who battered or struck a woman. I was able to go get the guy, walk him over to the car, and detain him,” Stuart Police spokesperson Brian Bossio told TC Palm.
Tomasko said that she and the teen didn’t exchange words before he suddenly punched her without warning.
“I’m standing there and people are moving and this kid just turned around and he punched me. I don’t know where he came from,” Tomasko said. “He punched me in the gut and knocked me on the ground, and I fell back and hit the ground. Thank goodness the two ladies were behind me so I didn’t hit my head.”
Tomasko added that the boy was part of a group of teen Trump supporters who were confronting Harris voters at the “We Won’t Go Back” rally, which was part of the nationwide Women’s March and supported a ballot measure that would establish protections for abortion rights in Florida’s state constitution.
“There were these four boys that were, you know, Trumpers, and it’s a Harris rally,” Tomasko said. “So they were going back and forth and antagonizing people, and our people were antagonizing them, I guess.”
Tomasko didn’t go to the hospital right after the attack but later said she might need to because she fell on her hip after being punched. She said she’s attended political rallies for years, but this is the first time she’s ever encountered violence like this.
“My girlfriend called me from Massachusetts and said, ‘Kathy, I can’t believe we’ve done rallies like this for how many years, and nothing like this ever happens,'” the 70-year-old remarked.
Several people on social media were stunned by the incident, as well.
“This sums up what Trump has done to America,” one X user commented. “Trump incites this criminal behavior,” another person wrote. “Like leader … like follower.”
“Good. Send him to juvie,” another comment read.
