A Montana Republican running for the US Congress has been charged with assaulting a reporter hours before polls were to open on Thursday for a special election that could test US President Donald Trump's political clout
Greg Gianforte Pic/AFP
A Montana Republican running for the US Congress has been charged with assaulting a reporter hours before polls were to open on Thursday for a special election that could test US President Donald Trump's political clout.
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Republican technology executive Greg Gianforte was charged with misdemeanour assault after a political correspondent for the US edition of the Guardian newspaper said the candidate had "body-slammed" him during a campaign event in Bozeman. Ben Jacobs was trying to ask Gianforte about healthcare, according to an audio tape captured by the British newspaper's correspondent. Fox News reporter Alicia Acuna, who was preparing to interview Gianforte at the time, said the candidate "grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him to the ground." Acuna, her field producer and photographer then "watched in disbelief as Gianforte began punching the reporter," she wrote on the Fox News website. Gianforte's campaign did not deny Jacobs' allegation but countered in its own statement that the reporter provoked an altercation.
$500 Fine Gianforte faces in addition to six months in jail if he's convicted
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