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YOUNGSTOWN - The Mahoning County Sheriff's Office is investigating an alleged assault by three men on a female protester at the Oct. 12 President Donald Trump rally at Youngstown's Covelli Centre.
Sheriff Jerry Greene said Wednesday his department has identified three men - two from the area and one from New Jersey - who were allegedly involved in the incident. Videos of the altercation show that at least one man punched the woman in the face and pulled her hair.
Greene said he expected the victim to file charges, but when that didn't occur, his department looked through social media and identified her two days after the rally. A day later, she spoke to the department and filed a report seeking to press charges, Greene said.
Greene said his department has identified the three men involved and have contacted each of them.
Greene said: "We started the investigation into the three individuals who wrestled with her - particularly the one who punched her."
The two local men want legal representation with them when they are interviewed by the sheriff's office, Greene said. The interviews will occur soon, Greene said.
Greene said his office spoke to the local police department for the New Jersey man and either his office by Zoom and/or the local department in New Jersey will interview him.
As for criminal charges, Greene said, "Eventually after our investigation and our findings, we'll have to go through the prosecutor's office."
If it's determined that the incident is a simple assault, a misdemeanor, it would be handled by Youngstown city prosecutors in municipal court, Greene said. If it rises to a felony, it would be handled by the county prosecutor's office.
"We'll have both of them look at it," Greene said.
The altercation occurred while Trump was speaking Oct. 12 at a rally to support U.S. Sen. Jon Husted and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. All are Republicans.
The woman, wearing a shirt reading: "Release the Epstein files," started shouting during the rally. Videos show the three Trump supporters going after her, including one who punched her in the face.
The supporters stopped when law enforcement officials arrived. Sheriff's deputies removed the protester while the Trump supporters were permitted to remain at the rally.
When this occurred, Trump stopped speaking rather than trying to deescalate it.
As the protester was removed and put up two middle fingers while being escorted out, Trump said: "He's a paid protester. They're all paid. They get paid by the lefties in order to destroy our country. They're scum. But he's going back home to mom."
In addition to misidentifying the victim's gender, Trump also made fun of her weight.
Body camera footage released Wednesday shows sheriff's deputies and security responding to the disturbance after it had already occurred and escorting the victim out of the Covelli Centre.
After being removed from the arena, the woman drove herself to a local hospital, Greene said.
"We're waiting for hospital records," Greene said.
Asked about the sheriff's investigation, Andy Resnick, a city of Youngstown spokesman, said: "Until we see something from MCSO, we don't have a comment."
Mayor Derrick McDowell also said he wouldn't comment on an open investigation.
The day after the rally, McDowell wrote a lengthy post on his Facebook page condemning "all senseless violence" and that "in the coming days, the city and (Youngstown police) will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities pertinent to its responsibilities regarding this incident." In that post, he wrote Youngstown police were not assigned inside the Covelli Centre and it was handled by the sheriff's office, the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies.