Twitter/Lindsay Watts
- A man who deliberately breathed on two women outside President Donald Trump's Virginia golf course has been charged with assault, the sheriff's office said.
- Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said that Raymond Deskins, 61, was "charged with simple assault" over the Saturday incident.
- It said video footage of the incident "did not capture the entire interaction."
- The video showed a woman asking Deskins, wearing Trump gear, to move away from her while noted that he had no mask on.
- Deskins then takes a breath in and heavily breathes out, with one woman saying "That's assault."
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A man who deliberately breathed heavily on two protesters outside of President Donald Trump's golf course in Virginia has been charged with assault, the local sheriff's office said.
Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said on Sunday that Raymond Deskins, 61, was charged with misdemeanor-level assault.
Video shared on social media showed a woman, who can't be seen in the video, asking Deskins to move away from her on Saturday near the Trump National Golf Club, Washington DC.
At the same time another woman, also out of frame, pointed out that he wasn't wearing a mask.
Deskins, wearing a Trump t-shirt and an inflatable with the shape of Trump on the front, then breathed in and heavily breathed out.
One of the woman then said "that's assault," and he said "I breathed on you."
You can watch the video here:
—Lindsay Watts (@LindsayAWatts) November 22, 2020
Trump was golfing there at the time, and reportedly skipped a G20 meeting with other world leaders about the coronavirus pandemic to do so.
The Sheriff's Office said that it was "aware" of the video, but said that "the incident was not witnessed by law enforcement and the video did not capture the entire interaction."
It said that an "investigation was conducted on scene and both parties were advised they could go to a Loudoun County Magistrate and seek a citizen-obtained warrant."
It said it received a warrant over the incident on Sunday.
Deskins was released on summons, the sheriff's office said, meaning he wasn't kept in custody.
NBC affiliate News4 Washington identified one of the women as Kathy Beynette.
She told the outlet that she and the other woman were protesting Trump, and that "quite out of nowhere, the guy came over from across the street, came charging across the street."
After the women told him to move away, she said, Deskins "proceeded to assault us by taking a deep breath and doing a very powerful exhalation on both of us."
She said that she and the other woman, who has not been named, are worried about their health.
"We're both senior citizens both close to 70 years old, which puts us in a high-risk category," she said.
"Because of this guy, my family has had to cancel the small Thanksgiving that we had planned with just a few people because I said I might've been exposed."
The Associated Press noted that both protesters and Trump supporters often gather at the club entrance while he plays.
Deskins did not immediately return the AP's request for comment.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/2URK99B
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