David Rhodes tweeted that journalist Sopan Deb, who was covering the rally at the University of Illinois’ Chicago campus on Friday, was handcuffed and charged with resisting arrest.
“On tape you see he did not resist, identified himself as working press,” Rhodes said in his tweet.
CBS News also aired footage of the rally and of Deb’s arrest, which he managed to capture on tape. In the accompanying article, Deb said police abruptly threw him to the ground and handcuffed him.
Deb was charged with resisting arrest, “although there is no sign of that on the video,” according to CBS.
Deb was arrested and placed in the back of a police vehicle. His camera was left on the ground but returned to him once he was released on Friday night.
After being let go, Deb went to the hospital to check for possible injuries sustained during the arrest.
Deb tweeted about the night saying, “I’ve never seen anything like what I’m witnessing in my life.”
Deb, a well-liked producer among his peers, has been traveling with the Trump campaign since last summer. He’s what is known as a campaign “embed.”
Deb is Indian. He has never been to the Middle East (or India for that matter). And yet, he has repeatedly been singled out at events.
In November, he tweeted, “A Trump supporter just asked me at Reno event if I was taking pictures for ISIS. When I looked shocked, he said, ‘yeah, I’m talking to you.'”
