Note: The video above contains profanity and violence and may be disturbing to some viewers.
WILMINGTON — A video circulating on social media shows a man holding a young woman to the ground after she stole his Trump flag. Police say witnesses reported the man had been demonstrating peacefully up until that point, but are now looking into the alleged assault.
According to the Wilmington Police Department, the incident occurred on Thursday, August 20 around 5:30 p.m. in the Chick-Fil-A parking lot on Market St. near New Centre Drive.
According to WPD, an officer responded after an assault was reported by the young woman involved. The man involved had apparently left the scene by the time officers arrived. The 17-year-old told police she had seen the Trump supporters demonstrating and “became angry because she doesn’t like Trump, and took one of the supporter’s flags.”
Witnesses told WPD that the teenager looked like she was trying to ‘rip up’ the Trump flag, at which point WPD said, “the male protester she took the flag from then chased her and tackled her to the ground.” This is the part of the incident captured on the brief video now circulating online.
According to WPD, the teenager sustained minor injuries, including scratches and ‘road rash’ scrapes on her palms and right knee; she was treated by EMS.
According to Nicky Lindsey, the teenager’s mother, the man pinned her daughter and then threw her on the concrete.
Lindsey said she had told her daughter that it was wrong to take the flag but also expressed outrage that the man had ‘laid hands’ on her daughter, who is a minor. Lindsey also expressed frustration that the responding officer did not initially want to take a report or document her daughter’s injuries. According to Lindsey, officers did finally take a report at her insistence.
According to Lindsey, her daughter sent a copy of the video to Officer Benjamin Cookson. WPD confirmed that the video is now being reviewed by the STING center. Cookson did reach out to the daughter to ask for additional still images, if available, to prepare a bulletin to identify the man involved.
Lindsey also addressed reports that two other young women on the scene had been drinking earlier in the day. The Instagram account where the video of the incident originally appeared also showed two women with cans of Four Loko (the photo and the video were part of the same post). Lindsey said her daughter was not with these other women at the time of that photo and had not taken part in any drinking or drug use.
