15-year-old pepper-sprayed outside Donald Trump rally
A teenage girl was pepper-sprayed outside of a Donald Trump campaign rally in Janesville, Wisconsin on Tuesday, and she alleged she was sexually assaulted, according to the Janesville Police Department.
In a statement, the police department said: "A 15 year [old] girl from Janesville was peppered sprayed in the crowd by a non-law enforcement person... A male in the (crowd) groped the 15 year [old] girl, when she pushed him away; another person in the (crowd) sprayed her. We are currently looking for two suspects, one for the sexual assault and one for the pepper spray."
A 19-year-old woman from Madison, Wisconsin also received second-hand spray the police said.
Video of the pepper-spraying incident was posted to a Janesville community Facebook page late Tuesday.
FIRST ON JANESVILLE COMMUNITY PAGE:Protester throws a punch and gets sprayed at #Trump rally in #JanesvilleVideo courtesy of Chris Conry
Posted by Janesville Community Page on Tuesday, March 29, 2016
In the video, a blonde girl screamed at a man in the crowd that "you f***ing touched my chest." Later, the man denied the accusation, putting his hands up and saying, "I never touched her."
Approximately 30 seconds in, another member of the crowd sprays the teenage girl's face in close range.
Another video posted to YouTube.com shows a little more of the altercation between the man and the teenager. As she held up a sign, they exchanged words, and he pointed at her with a sheaf of papers.
Janesville Police Sgt. Aaron Ellis told the Associated Press Wednesday that the girl told police she punched the man whom she accused of groping her, named by the Wisconsin State Journal as Dan Crandall of Milton.
"I didn't touch her," Crandall, a Trump supporter, told the newspaper. "She started to challenge why I was at the Trump rally since I was a grown man. I told her I was at the Trump rally because I was a grown man and I cared about my country."
Ellis said the girl could also face charges for punching Crandall.
On Wednesday, police issued another press release asking for more information about another unnamed individual involved in the altercation.
The incident took place outside the Holiday Inn Express and Janesville Convention Center, where over 1,000 supporters gathered at a Donald Trump rally held Tuesday afternoon. About a thousand more attendees, including both supporters and protesters, convened outside the venue.
On Monday night, six protesters were arrested by the Janesville Police Department after refusing to leave the venue's lobby as part of an anti-Donald Trump protest. Trump, for his part, was campaigning in Wisconsin as part of a last-minute bid for support ahead of the state's primary on April 5.
This only the latest in a string of violent incidents and assaults involving Trump supporters at his events.
Just this week, Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was charged with "simple battery" after he grabbed and allegedly bruised a former Breitbart reporter earlier this month at a press conference.
Trump stuck by Lewandowski after the charge, even threatening to sue the reporter after she tried "to grab me and shout questions":
Victory press conference was over.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2016
Why is she allowed to grab me and shout questions? Can I press charges? pic.twitter.com/qbW2RjkINX
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Janesville Police Department's investigation.