Police on Monday released new details on the violence that broke out at the “Million MAGA March” in Washington DC — including about a skirmish between a Trump supporter and a group of counter-protesters.
DC Police Chief Peter Newsham said four people were arrested, including one for assault, at the scene of Saturday’s caught-on-camera altercation near 17th and I streets, The Washington Post reported.
A short clip of the altercation — which was shared by President Trump with the caption “Human Radical Left garbage did this. Being arrested now!” — showed the Trump supporter being hit from behind with a sign and falling to the ground.
However, investigators were looking into whether the man who was hit provoked the attack, Newsham said, apparently referring to a longer version of the video — that showed the Trump supporter knocking a counter-protester to the ground before he got decked.
Police are also still probing an incident where a man was stabbed three times in his back. No arrests had been made in that case as of Monday evening.
The 26-year-old victim told The Washington Post under the condition of anonymity that he was stabbed as he was bent over to help a fellow counter-protester during a clash with a group of seemingly drunk men, some of whom were wearing red MAGA hats.
“I thought I’d been punched, because I’ve never been stabbed before,” he said. “I started to run. Then I started to feel liquid on my side… I took off my glove and stuck my hand in the blood. I held up my hand to say, ‘I need help!’”
As of Monday, cops had arrested 21 people on various charges. They included 26-year-old Javien Michael Dawson, who was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon for an incident in which fireworks were thrown at Trump supporters in the aftermath of the march, according to video.
Police said they recovered eight unregistered firearms from those who were collared — most of those coming from a Georgia couple, Joshua Justice Skillman, 28, and his girlfriend Samantha Falk, 33, Newsham said.
The pair, who said they were in the nation’s capital to “support their president,” were stopped after officers spotted them openly carrying semiautomatic firearms, which is illegal in DC.
Back at the couple’s hotel room, cops also found ammunition and other weapons, including a loaded submachine gun, the report said. Skillman said he and his girlfriend had licenses for their weapons in Georgia, but not for Washington, according to court documents obtained by the Post.
Another person charged with a weapons violation was a Virginia man who told a judge he didn’t know it was illegal to carry his gun in DC.
Most of those arrested were released and ordered to return to court next year while a grand jury reviews their case, according to the Post.
The police chief said the violence stemming from the presidential election was troubling.
“The worst of it for me… was to see our country having those types of physical disputes over an election,” Newsham said.
“That’s something we attribute to other countries across the world, but we don’t see that here in the United States.”