Shortly after President Trump took the stage to address the National Rifle Association convention on Friday, a man in the audience launched a cell phone that landed just feet away from the president as he stood near the podium greeting the crowd.
Secret Service hauled the man, later identified as William Rose, out of Lucas Oil Stadium and arrested him. According to law enforcement officials, the man was intoxicated at the time of his arrest.
In a statement to Fox News, the Secret Service said, “At approximately 12:30 p.m. (ET) today, President Trump was at an event in Indianapolis, IN. As the President was walking onto the stage, but prior to his remarks, a cell phone from the crowd landed on the opposite side of the stage. An individual was removed from the event and the investigation is continuing.”
Bradley Brewer, who was in attendance at the convention, caught the moment on video:
#BREAKING: A phone was thrown at @realDonaldTrump during his introduction at the @NRA convention.
The individual was swiftly arrested and the President continued with no problem. pic.twitter.com/EDcHwNgQl7
— Bradley Brewer 🇺🇸 (@realBradBrewer) April 26, 2019
The phone actually sailed over my head before landing on the stage. It’s highlighted in the image below:
The podium is just off camera to the left.
I was surprised that the phone was left on the stage throughout Trump’s speech. What if, God forbid, it had been an IED? Perhaps Secret Service reasoned that the phone had been through the security checkpoint, but I was a little nervous about the fact that the phone was not removed:
Someone threw what appears to be a cell phone onto the stage with POTUS. Surprised security hasn't removed it. A little unnerving… #NRAAM pic.twitter.com/VQ5bI36UuZ
— Paula Bolyard (@pbolyard) April 26, 2019
Townhall’s Katie Pavlich noted that it took the Secret Service a couple of minutes to corral the man, who was wandering around in front of the stage carrying a Mtn. Dew.
A man threw a cell phone on stage when President Trump walked out for his @nra speech. He threw it stage left, while POTUS was closer to stage right. The man hung around up front for a few minutes, carrying Mt. Dew, as POTUS started remarks and then Secret Service removed him.
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) April 26, 2019
At around the same time, a second individual in the crowd threw what appeared to be money at the president. The video is blurry, but you can see the projectiles being launched at the president at around the 1:33 mark.
WATCH (1:33) as someone throws what looked to be money at President Trump right after he took the stage the NRA-ILA conference. At around the same time, someone launched a cell phone onto the stage that landed just a few feet away from the president. I was surprised that the phone wasn't removed until after Trump's speech. What if it had been an IED?
Posted by Paula Kibelbek Bolyard on Friday, April 26, 2019
The episode recalled a 2008 incident when an Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at President Bush, just missing his head.
Trump, for his part, seemed undeterred by the projectiles and the speech went on without incident.
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