Christopher Morris, a TIME magazine contract photographer covering today’s Donald Trump rally at Radford University in Virgina, was slammed into a table and onto the floor by a Secret Service agent as Morris tried to get photos of a protest. The incident was captured from multiple angles and immediately spread on social media.
This is how reporters are treated at Trump rallies pic.twitter.com/hMxuEoKVeG
— Gabby Morrongiello (@gabriellahope_) February 29, 2016
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In this second video, you can hear Morris says “fuck you” to the agent.
Here's moments prior. The reporter says "f*ck you" — that's when it got physical pic.twitter.com/h9K2wIbEWQ
— Joe Perticone (@JoePerticone) February 29, 2016
California-born Morris has spent much of his career as a war photographer. He covered the George W. Bush presidency for a 2006 book title My America. An Amazon.com description of the book says the collection is Morris’s “personal journey into a Republican America. ‘Hopefully, you will see what I saw and feel what I felt–a nation that has wrapped its eyes so tightly in red, white and blue that it has gone blind.'”
Here’s what Morris said afterward, when interviewed by CNN’s Jim Acosta:
Time photog Chris Morris tells me how he was grabbed and taken down at Trump rally pic.twitter.com/XKDJarpXda
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) February 29, 2016
We are awaiting comment from TIME. But the publication did send out a link to a feature of Christopher Morris photos of Secret Service agents. “I call them ‘men in black,'” he said.
Update: A TIME spokesperson responds: TIME has contacted the U.S. Secret Service to express concerns about the level and nature of the agent’s response. Morris has also expressed remorse for his part in escalating the confrontation. A TIME spokesperson said, “We are relieved that Chris is feeling OK, and we expect him to be back at work soon.” Here’s their report.