BBC asks White House to review media security after cameraman shoved at Trump rally

The BBC’s Americas Bureau Chief Paul Danahar on Tuesday requested a White House “review of security arrangements for the media” after one of the news organization’s cameramen was shoved during President Trump’s campaign rally in Texas on Monday night.

“I’ve written to @PressSec asking for a full review of security arrangements for the media after last night’s attack on our BBC cameraman at the President’s rally,” Danahar wrote on Twitter. “Access into the media area was unsupervised. No one in law enforcement intervened before, during or after the attack.”

I’ve written to @PressSec asking for a full review of security arrangements for the media after last night’s attack on our BBC cameraman at the President’s rally. Access into the media area was unsupervised. No one in law enforcement intervened before, during or after the attack.

— Paul Danahar (@pdanahar) February 12, 2019

The request came just a day after a man wearing one of the president’s signature “Make America Great Again” hats was seen in a video shoving a BBC cameraman at Monday’s campaign rally in El Paso.{mosads}

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill. 

In a statement issued later Tuesday, White House Correspondents’ Association President Olivier Knox condemned the attack and called on Trump to “make absolutely clear” to his supporters that violence against journalists “is unacceptable.”

“The White House Correspondents’ Association condemns the physical attack on our colleague at the president’s rally in El Paso, Texas. We are relieved that, this time, no one was seriously hurt,” Knox wrote. “The president of the United States should make absolutely clear to his supporters that violence against reporters is unacceptable.”

Footage from the event shows the man shoving and swearing at BBC cameraman Ron Skeans before being pulled away.

Skeans told the BBC that he was caught unaware by a “very hard shove” during the rally, adding that he “didn’t know what was going on.”

The BBC stated that the incident occurred after Trump “heavily criticized” the press. 

Trump has repeatedly criticized the media throughout his presidency, often referring to it as “fake news” and the “enemy of the people.” 

— Updated 2:23 p.m.