A national political reporter for the Guardian newspaper Montana GOP congressional candidate said Greg Gianforte body-slammed him and broke his glasses Wednesday afternoon before a campaign event in Bozeman, Montana.
"Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses," reporter Ben Jacobs tweeted. He added in a second tweet: "There was a local TV crew there when Gianforte body slammed me. Audio is posting soon at @GuardianUS"
Jacobs was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. "He took me to the ground," Jacobs said, in a story for Guardian US. "This is the strangest thing that has ever happened to me in reporting on politics."
Gianforte campaign spokesman Shane Scanlon insisted that Jacobs made the first move, after Gianforte tried to grab an iPhone recorder that had been "aggressively shoved" in Gianforte's face.
In a statement, he said Jacobs had entered an office where Gianforte was giving a separate interview and "began asking badgering questions."
"Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Greg's wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground."
He concluded: "It's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ."
The Gallatin County Sheriff's Department confirmed that they are investigating the incident but said they would have no further immediate comment.
The incident comes one day before a hotly contested special election in Montana between Gianforte and the Democratic candidate Rob Quist. Gianforte has a reputation in Montana political circles for being prickly, and has been known to be especially testy with reporters. In one widely circulated radio interview on Montana Public Radio he repeatedly sparred verbally with the reporter.
The Guardian posted a transcript of what happened.
"I'm sick and tired of you guys," Gianforte told Jacobs, according to the Guardian report, which said Gianforte appeared to be upset about the newspaper's previous reporting. "The last guy who came here did the same thing. Get the hell out of here. Get the hell out of here. The last guy did the same thing. Are you with the Guardian?"
"Yes! You just broke my glasses," Jacobs replied.
"The last guy did the same damn thing," Gianforte said.
"You just body slammed me and broke my glasses," Jacob said.
"Get the hell out of here," Gianforte yelled.
The alleged attack was partially witnessed by a BuzzFeed reporter Alexis Levinson, who tweeted the following account of events:
"This happened behind a half closed door, so I didn't see it all, but here's what it looked like from the outside _ Ben walked into a room where a local TV crew was set up for an interview with Gianforte. All of a sudden I heard a giant crash and saw Ben's feet fly in the air as he hit the floor. Heard very angry yelling (as did all the volunteers in the room) _ sounded like Gianforte."
Levinson said Jacobs then walked out holding his broken glasses in his hand and said, "He just body-slammed me." An aide then told Jacobs to leave, Levinson said.
Jacobs reported the incident to the police, and the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene, Bozeman Daily Chronicle reporter Whitney Bermes tweeted.
Bermes said one person was taken from the scene to a local hospital. It's not clear if that person was Jacobs.
Another BuzzFeed reporter said Gianforte left the area before his campaign event was set to begin.
When asked for his reaction, Quist told reporters he "hadn't heard" about the incident and added, "That's not for me to talk about _ that's more a matter for law enforcement, I guess," according to a video taken by Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel.
