An independent watchdog determined that a Secret Service agent was justified in using a “choke slam” against a photographer at a Trump campaign event in 2016.
The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, of which the Secret Service is a part, looked into the case of agent William Figueroa for the way he took down Time magazine photographer Christopher Morris during then-candidate Trump’s Feb. 29 rally at Radford University, according to Politico. Video of the incident shows Morris attempting to leave the press pen to photograph protesters when Figueroa grabbed him by the neck, lifted him off the ground, and then slammed him down, which mimics a pro-wrestling-style move called the “choke slam.”
“We thus find that [the agent’s] use of force was reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances [and] was in keeping with USSS use of force policies and training tactics,” the DHS watchdog office concluded in its report.
Morris said the report contained inaccuracies about what took place, but he noted that could have been a result of him not speaking to investigators.
“There are so many inaccuracies in the thing because I wasn’t able to give my side of the story, but now, I’m glad I didn’t give my side of it,” the photographer said. “He said: You have no idea how they are going to frame things. They can turn that right around into evidence against you, unless you get them to guarantee your testimony is not going to be used against you in a court of law.”
He also suggested the president’s own rhetoric about the press could’ve played an underlying role in the incident.
“These agents sit in these rallies and listen to speaker after speaker trashing the press and then the candidate for president calling them the enemy of the people,” Morris said.
