A reporter said he was body slammed by Republican candidate Greg Gianforte at an event for Montana’s special House election.
Ben Jacobs, a reporter for the Guardian, was at a campaign event for Gianforte in Montana when the incident occurred.
Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 24, 2017
Gianforte, a millionaire businessman, is running against Democrat Rob Quist, a country music singer, for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s former congressional seat.
Jacobs, in an interview with MSNBC, said he was going to ask Gianforte a question about the Congressional Budget Office’s score of the Obamacare repeal bill.
“I wasn’t expecting detailed policy,” he said. “But then again I also wasn’t expecting to be body slammed.”
Jacobs said he was at the hospital getting an x-ray on his elbow following the incident.
In a statement, Gianforte’s campaign spokesman Shane Scanlon said Jacobs, “aggressively shoved a recorder in Greg’s face … Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Greg’s wrist, spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground. It’s unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ.”
Audio from the incident features Gianforte yelling, “I’m sick and tired of you guys … Get the hell out of here!”
He also asks if Jacobs is “with the Guardian.”
In April, Jacobs broke a story about Gianforte’s ties to Russian companies.
A Fox News crew witnessed the incident. The crew members said they saw “Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him.” He then reportedly began punching Jacobs.
Gianforte left the event by car after speaking behind closed doors with aides, according to multiple reports. He had been scheduled to speak at the event before leaving.
Quist responds (sort of) pic.twitter.com/cvnfAm0NyE
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) May 24, 2017
When asked by a reporter about Wednesday’s incident, Quist said, “I think that’s more a matter for law enforcement.”
Montana’s special election is Thursday. This is Montana’s only congressional seat.
As of Tuesday, about 250,000 out of about 700,000 registered voters in Montana had voted in the special election.
Gallatin County, Montana, Sheriff Brian Gootkin spoke at a press conference Wednesday evening. When asked if Gianforte will be charged with fleeing the scene of a crime, he said that will be determined as part of the investigation.
Lee Glendinning, editor of the Guardian, released a statement saying the outlet is “deeply appalled” by the incident, and it stands by Jacobs.
